Popart 2
Ah, it’s art time again. I missed the first Popart (silly me), but I received an invitation for the opening of the second exhibition: Popart 2. What can you expect? Well, 15 artists from 8 countries. Or vice versa.
Who is showing pieces there? Certainly Romero Britto, plus Guldenstern, John Suchy, Luigi Rocca, Plusminus Produkties, Gerstein, Lisa Grubb, and many more. Check the full text for images and more info on the exhibition.
Britto’s pieces are strong, colorful, and happy as always. Although, I admit, his Princess Diana is disappointing me. Especially when compared to the new version of Mona Cat, which simply rocks. And no, I’m not saying this because it has a cat in it. If you look closely, you can see the cat has green eyes.
The Guldenstern paintings are… massive. And I like the one to the left (”3 Stories”), with Marilyn, Audrey and Romy against their home cities. It is, with all the red, a rather lively pictures. Being the shooting stars of German pop-art, you can see that the fame is well deserved. Plus, since they paint on Aluminium, you can stick notes with fridge magnets on their… errr…
Rocca paints impressively realistic - hyperrealistic - paintings. If you’d hang one on your wall, you might mistake it for a window. At least if you live in the US - specifically New York. The details in his works are astounding, even though the diner (”Dinner”, 2008) looks a bit deserted, without any patrons.
Finally, the biggest suprise for me were Plusminus Produkties from the Netherlands. They (the name stands for a duo living and working in Amsterdam) really bring the Pop into Popart with a comic-based style. Intriguingly, mixed in the paintings are friendly, harmless motives with a darker, evil underlying layer. Or, in their words: “What happens, if evil has a nice face?”
Take the Tinkerbell painting, for example. At first, the fairy is easily distinguished. After a closer look, the war comic in the background becomes more and more apparent. And the picture with the captured Bambi… To top it all off, two paintings that look pretty manga-ish. With the little Orang-Utan in the right one, I can’t help to think “Planet of the Apes”.
All in all, an exhibitions you should check out if you are even moderately interested in Popart. You have a change to see it all until July 31st at the Automobil Forum Unter den Linden, here in Berlin. Entry is free, and on weekends there are guided tours (I definetely will check one out). Oh, and never mind the cars that block the view on the art…
