The Brooks Museum of Art Highlights Pop Art

Memphis, Tennessee – The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art presents an exciting new exhibition from the permanent collection entitled The Pop Environment, on view until July 13, 2008. In the early 1960s, Pop artists began acknowledging and appropriating imagery from the commercial environment, thereby shattering the distinction between high and low culture.  
 
Artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, Allan D’Arcangelo, Jim Dine, and Tom Wesselmann took their inspiration from comic books, advertisements, newspaper headlines, film stills, and popular magazines.  
 
This eye-opening exhibition at the Brooks brings together diverse works, ranging from paintings and photographs to mixed media installations, which can all be linked to the Pop emphasis on looking beyond the confines of one’s studio for inspiration and guidance.
 
Whether in Warhol’s sage selection of press photographs, William Christenberry’s documentation of signage on Beale Street, Marcos Lopez’s fond portraits of vintage automobiles, or Jenny Holzer’s commentary on the media and advertising, this exhibition underscores the success of the Pop artists in transforming the perception of the ordinary object to bring art to our everyday lives.  
 
The Pop Environment  was curated by Chief Curator Marina Pacini and Professor David McCarthy of Rhodes College.  It is on view until July 13, 2008.  Regular admission fees apply.  Call 901-544-6200 or visit www.brooksmuseum.org for more information.