2D Art II Assignment: Pop Art II

Last year in 2D Art I, we did a Pop Art project. As we learned, Pop Art was an art movement in the late 50’s and early 60’s that used as its source visual imagery from popular culture. We learned how Pop artists like Andy Warhol looked to things like consumerism and celebrity for subject matter for their art.


Warhol, Vegetable Soup, 1962


Warhol, Liz Taylor, 1964

The pieces that we did last year generally featured only one object, like Warhol's soup can, or a portrait of a celebrity such as Marilyn Monroe, or Elizabeth Taylor (as seen above).

This year, we will be focusing on the work of another Pop Artist, James Rosenquist. Early in his career, Rosenquist worked as a billboard painter, which required him to paint very large pictures of various products, in a very realistic manner. Moving away from advertising art, he brought his technical skill as a painter and his familiarity with popular culture into the world of fine art.

Differing from the single-object images that we see in much of Warhol's work, Rosenquist created complex compositions with a number of different objects or images, and attempted to “say something” about contemporary American culture. Rosenquist’s juxtaposition* of seemingly unrelated objects suggested hidden connections and new levels of meaning.

(*juxtaposition: placing two or more objects together, especially in order to suggest a link between them or emphasize the contrast between them.)

It is the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated objects in Rosenquist's work that makes his paintings so intriguing. What do they mean? His paintings invite you to find your own interpretation.

(click on the images below for larger views)


President Elect, 1961


I Love You with My Ford, 1961


Nomad, 1963


World's Fair Mural, 1964




F-111, 1965 (these pieces are connected, and are 2 out of 4 panels)


The Swimmer in the Econo-Mist, 1998


Examples of student work from AAW 2D Art II in previous years:


Victoria Webb, 2006


Peggy Kittila, 2002

In your Pop Art piece this year, you will need to include at least three different objects. Your picture will be more interesting if the relationship of the objects is not obvious. Think carefully about this project. What will you try to say with this picture? What will it mean? Will the meaning be clear, or will it be more symbolic? Will it have a specific meaning or will it be vague? Or perhaps there may not even be a particular meaning-- you can let the viewer try to figure it out on their own, and come up with their own interpretation.

For more information on Rosenquist, click here.
To go to Rosenquist's website, click here.