British pop art, op art, abstraction and minimalism

A quick round-up of the strays. And then I think I’m done. I’m not sure I want to be brought right up to date – not when there’s still so much of past art to explore and so many other ways of exploring the present.

Richard Hamilton’s definition of pop art covers it all:

• Popular
• Transient
• Expendable
• Low cost
• Mass produced
• Young
• Witty
• Sexy
• Gimmicky
• Glamorous
• Big Business

British pop art: the Independent Group, 1952. “This is Tomorrow” exhibition, 1956, at the Whitechapel Gallery. Eduardo Paolozzi, Nigel Henderson, Richard Hamilton.

• One difference between US and UK pop artists was that British ones often came from a traditional art education rather than via graphic art. Peter Blake’s rather nostalgic work, for example, looks like a collage but is actually all painted. They often worked more on the appropriated image than their US counterparts (even if it’s not obvious at first sight).
• David Hockey – acrylic paint. Dries quickly and colours don’t blend as oil does – hence the stripes of reflections. Canvas does not need priming for acrylics. (I still find him affectless though.)
• Pauline Boty – died young (like Paula Modersohn-Becker) but her work is full of life. Collages like Max Ernst and a critique of a man’s world.

Op art – a continuation of Chevreuil’s colour theory (e.g. how grey “changes” shade depending on what colours are around it) plus interest in how the eyes “see” things that are not actually there. A bit of a dead-end street, but entertaining. Also raises the question of who exactly makes the art e.g. Bridget Riley’s mural in the National Gallery, which was actually painted on the wall by her assistants.

New generation British sculpture like Anthony Caro, William Tucker, Phillip King, David Annesley. Removing evidence of the “making” (e.g. using industrial materials rather than casting in bronze); free-standing with no plinth; absence of expression – it’s about the spatial relationships.

Other British abstract artists like Gillian Ayers.

Post-painterly abstraction: not using a traditional brush but just allowing the paint to run or settle or using a sponge.

Minimalism: minimal art content in the work. No interpretation or symbolism. It’s just a painting. Frank Stella: “what you see is what you see”. Some of it looks like Malevich or Mondrian. Agnes Martin is considered a minimalist but she didn’t think of herself as one. Carl Andre (I remember the bricks furore) definitely.

Post-minimalism: minimalism with a human hand. Eva Hesse’s hangings, for example, look different according to how they are hung or draped. Less controlled. (The lecturer at this point talked about the “excitement” of an exhibition of this type that he had attended. Yes, well . . .)

Conceptual art: the idea is more important than the artwork. It has the potential for wit (Rauschenberg’s telegram). At this point I bow out: I like ideas but those I can find anywhere.