TRUTH | Pop Art

 

 

 

 

POP ART: art based on modern popular culture and the mass media, especially as a critical or ironic comment on traditional fine art values.

It took 8 months to process this concept. When I started this series and knew there would be a pop art piece, this never came close to my mind. This portrait/style followed the abstract painting. Initially my mind shifted back to portraying Jesus directly (like the styles before) and how to present him in this particular style. Various images came to mind that riffed off of Andy Warhol's work depicting celebrities. But all of those ideas felt too easy. Something was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it yet. I tried sketching Jesus as a black man, dressing him in contemporary clothing, connecting Him with major news stories, etc., and nothing fit. Finally, the world's social media obsession came to mind, and the wheels were turning.

At first I had Jesus inside "the square" (which in itself is it's own statement). There were several versions I entertained but then thinking upon how many likes and comments He would have, I paused. Would he have more or less than Oprah? More or less than Kim Kardashian? Without a doubt people would be following Him and their personal idols at the same time. This was getting complicated yet interesting.

The more I thought about all of these little details the harder it was to see Jesus on Instagram (or any social media for that matter). If you're following Jesus with friends, celebrities, idols, then with one swipe of the thumb, you're levitating and on the next you could be lusting, loathing, gossiping, triggered, saddened, or having some other emotional reaction depending on what channel/stream your IG feeds you. It would be pointless for Christ to join social media with all of the other people on it competing for likes/attention, that's not His style (Although I'm sure he'd have tons of fan accounts).

Artificial Intelligence knows exactly who/what you're interested in following by the length of time you spend on the "square" and then continues to generate and serve you more algorithms of those interests. In other words- our individual stage is set for us before we even jump on the social app with "stories" and target marketing advertisements to exactly the things we like. How can Jesus exist when our society is jammed-pack with temptations, unrealistic standards, and distractions constantly in our faces? There's no doubt why our culture is very busy and running on fumes because it requires awareness and HARD WILL POWER to turn off the media, the social media and anything that is tempting to us. And then even more to keep it off and find stillness & joy in our own lives.

Another interesting thing that crossed my mind, one may jump on social media and "like" Jesus's photo and various others' at the same time. However, if you're really fond, you would bookmark and/or leave a caption on the photo too. There are two comments in the painting. When researching inspiration for this portrait I noticed the letters "LB" on many popular celebrity photos. Google was quick to verify the term "LB" means: "like back". So, if you comment "LB" on someone's image, they can go to your IG page to "like" all of your photos and then you go to their page and "like" all of their photos back. This, in my opinion, is a new low of insecurity in society. More often than not, social media becomes a game, and we forget that "likes" are NOT our true worth. The pressure to prove ourselves to our followers mixing with desire for enough or a higher amount of likes is an endless game that no one wins. The photos that garner more likes typically have some degree of sex appeal or some degree of shock value. Ultimately this creates inflated cycles of individual ego & false security that raise our cultural appetite for racier images and eventually lowers social moral. 

Literal and metaphorical comparisons in this portrait are some of the biggest statements across the whole series:

• The size of Kim versus the size of Jesus in the bottom right corner Meaning: we get our idols mixed with our King
• The amount of flash and flesh compared to the quiet black and white corner He is in. There are certain tactics to attracting one's attention. It's not always in sexual ways, but it sure is an easy (might I say desperate) way to lure attention. The bells, whistles, drama, stories and notifications in the media, TV, movies, video games, politics, fashion, etc, are infinitely more magnetic than a book that sits quietly on a shelf. The same way the playing field (the main portion of portrait) is stacked against the corner of the painting.
• The time of day compared to the battery life
• The context of the comments with the image
• The amount of likes and comments with the post
• The profile symbol and the live story

Despite the way it appears, the painting is NOT about Kim, but rather the culture. We love our celebrities, our leaders, our houses, cars, clothes, etc. Do we even realize who, what, or how many we are idolizing anymore and how much space we have in our heart. Anything can fit in the square and surely everyone has a square. 

 

 

ART HISTORY NOTE: Characteristics attributed to the artistic era named "Pop Art". Most people think Pop Art was born in New York City, however it originated in England. Pop Art was how artists competed with other forms of entertainment. New York became the hub/headquarters of Pop Art movement. “Pop Art” is short for “Popular Art”. Pop art desecrates fine art and is all about attitude.