Special Notice: 30% off Olan's new book "Pop art inspired by New York's own subcultures from celebrity to subway" signed by the artist exclusively for visitors to our booth at Art Expo 2008 & the reception at Kanvas Gallery Bar. Telephone Stacy at 908.642.7465 for details!
A quote from Olan's book:
"POP ART was marked by a fascination with popular culture reflecting the affluence in post-war society in the 50's & 60's. It was most prominent in American art. In celebrating everyday objects such as soup cans, washing powder, comic strips and soda pop bottles. The movement turned the commonplace into icons. By definition POP ART is an art movement in the 50's through the 70's that incorporated modern popular culture and the mass media.
Pop Art is a direct descendant of Dadaism in the way it mocks the established art world by appropriating images from the street, the supermarket, the mass media, and presenting it as art in itself.
I see a new commonplace desire by popular culture for '5 seconds' of fame through reality TV and, in fact, celebrity 'flashing' is on the rise from the pants down. A friend of mine recently said to me, "today, people see what they want to see." I'm asking you to see more.
My ICONS are aberrant, many not mainstream or known. No matter who they are, they are individuals who matter. They are all people with whom we all have something in common and they touch our lives every day, they are you and me. My 'soup cans & washing powders 'are now held by their 'commonplace strangers' from every street corner as they find sustenance through bottle collecting or whatever they can do to survive. Today the not-so-subtle complexities of our 'POP CULTURE' are infinite in these 'not-so-affluent' societal times as our own country engages in conflict.
I do not live in the 60's and I am not blind to my own popular culture and it's 'everyday objects', and yes, I do believe that people have been reduced to 'objects' in many situations fueled by mass media, and it's time for a change. My art is just here to remind you to do so and you can start by acknowledging the existence of that stranger standing next to you." - OLAN 2008
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