“Signs and Objects: Pop Art from the Guggenheim Collection” – A Celebration and Deconstruction of the Everlasting Pop Art Movement
The allure of art surprises can take various forms, but few are as captivating as a colossal pooch made entirely of flowers. Outside the hallowed halls of the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, Jeff Koons’ “Puppy,” a monumental 43ft-high Highland Terrier sculpture crafted from 38,000 bedding plants, stands as an enduring testament to the power of Pop art.
Pop art, that high-kicking and counter-intuitive artistic expression often associated with the 1960s, continues to captivate and provoke, as evident in the Guggenheim Bilbao’s latest exhibition, “Signs and Objects: Pop Art from the Guggenheim Collection.”
This exhibition serves a dual role – to commemorate and dissect the Pop art movement that revolutionized our perception of everyday objects, from comics to product packaging, into esteemed works of art through a fusion of Dada, Surrealism, and, some would argue, chicanery. The show features an array of explosive examples from the old guard such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg, alongside whimsical creations from the 1990s and 2000s by Claes Oldenburg and Maurizio Cattelan, and contemporary politically-charged pieces by artists like Lucia Hierro.
The Pop art legacy was deeply intertwined with the Guggenheim Museum, which championed its rise to fame and scholarly significance. In 1963, it showcased the groundbreaking exhibition “Six Painters and the Object,” featuring works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist, and Jim Dine – a pivotal moment that solidified these artists’ academic importance. And the museum has continued to build its Pop art collection since then.
The exhibition, comprising 40 pieces dating from 1961 to 2021, includes works that span the globe and reflect various artistic styles. The largest piece, “Soft Shuttlecock” (1995), a colossal shuttlecock by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, created specifically for the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, sits somberly in its own space like a sorrowful echo of an ancient badminton game between giants. The exhibition deftly balances humor and melancholy, making Pop art an intriguing exploration of human emotions.
The show is primarily divided into two main galleries. The first gallery showcases large-format, high-sheen works by predominantly American artists, including a massive green self-portrait of Warhol reminiscent of the Wicked Witch of the West. In contrast, the second gallery shifts focus to contact artists like Mimmo Rotella and Sigmar Polke, allowing visitors to traverse the “new, shiny” realm of a young country to the regions with “long histories.”
Pop art has long been associated with consumerism and narcissism, given its influence on shop shelves and self-promotion. However, curator Lauren Hinkson argues that this may be a valid concern, with Warhol being a prime example. “Andy Warhol did it before anyone had even thought of it – before the Kardashians took their first selfie,” she says. “Warhol anticipated all that.” Pop art served as a mirror reflecting the culture and made the public self-aware, while contemporary artists continue to inject wit and challenge societal norms.
In the exhibition’s entrance, “A Little Bit of Everything (2017-21)” by Dominican American contemporary artist Lucia Hierro, showcases the potential for Pop art to be both critical and culturally specific. Her work, a colossal shopping bag brimming with Latin-American groceries that confuses our sense of scale, highlights her unique perspective as an outsider analyzing her place within the Pop art sphere. “I see myself in an interesting position as a Dominican American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean to confront and analyze my place within these systems, within the visual analysis we call ‘Pop,’” she explains.
Hierro’s playful yet profound work engages viewers through humor and collaboration, echoing the sentiments of Koons’ giant marigold and begonia-covered pooch that elicits laughter and Instagram moments from visitors outside the museum. Pop art transcends the boundaries of time, inviting us to reflect on our past while challenging our present.
“Signs and Objects: Pop Art from the Guggenheim Collection” is on view at the Guggenheim Bilbao until September 15, 2024.
