PopArtPal Blog – Sensational Sensations!

Burton Morris Shows His Style of Pop Art in Singapore

Paul Gibson — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:39:54 +0000

What better way to start the year then with an exhibition of Burton Morris. In his post-Pop style, Burton Morris boldly projects an enticing mood of happiness, high energy and fun. He chooses one subject per composition to create what he calls “an instant happening” for the viewer. In his paintings, Morris energizes every day images with his unique style so that a steaming coffee cup, a swirling martini and a dancing popcorn box all take on a new life under his paintbrush.

Burton Morris was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (the birthplace of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring) in 1964. His forbears were Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann and Red Grooms whose influences can be seen in his work today.

The artist established the Burton Morris Studios in 1990 and his rise to fame began when NBC engaged him to produce artwork for the hit US sitcom, “Friends”, something Burton continued to do for the full 10 year run of the acclaimed worldwide hit show.

This proved to be a stepping stone on to even greater things. Morris has created signature images for the 76th annual Academy Awards (The Oscars), the 38th Montreux Jazz Festival, The Andre Agassi Foundation and the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He was selected by the International Olympic Committee to create 36 original paintings regarding the spirit of the Olympic Games and The International Olympic Museum hosted a one-man exhibition in Lausanne, Switzerland, during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Burton Morris already has an amazing and substantial body of work behind him and his artwork is displayed in galleries and museums around the world. His artwork is also featured in the collections of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Jimmy Carter Center amongst many others. One-man exhibitions include Sotheby’s of Amsterdam, the International Olympic Museum and the Hickory Museum of Art. Morris` artwork has been exhibited in 20 cities and in 8 countries across 3 different continents.

Because of his continued success celebrity owners of Morris’ work include the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Roy Disney, Stan Lee, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Keanu Reeves, Donald Trump, Jay Leno and President Sarkozy of France. Among corporate owners, Morris can include the likes of Chanel, Microsoft, Sony, Apple, Rolex, Samsung, Kelloggs, Heinz, Absolut Vodka and Coca Cola.

Burton Morris’ artwork is a must see and must have for any collector of pop art who is looking for the next pop artist to take on the mantle of the likes of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.

*Article courtesy of Artdaily

Warhol Pop Art Photobooth Painting Fetches $38M

Paul Gibson — Sat, 14 May 2011 07:45:17 +0000

Andy Warhol’s Self-Portrait (1963) sold for a record-breaking $38.4 million at a Christie’s auction here on May 11. The highlight of Christie’s post-war art sale, the personalized pop art canvas consists of an acrylic silkscreen on four panels. The images Warhol used for the painting were from a classic coin-op photobooth located in Times Square.

Commissioned by Detroit art collector Florence Barron, the painting’s original price was $1,600 (approximately $11,000 in 2011 dollars). An anonymous private collector from Europe won the 16-minute bidding war.

“The painting is remarkable not only for its visual impact and the introduction of the photobooth genre, but for marking a key moment in the history of art, when Warhol takes his place in the pantheon of celebrity alongside Marilyn, Elizabeth and Elvis,” said Brett Gorvy, Christie’s international co-head and deputy chairman for post-war and contemporary art.

Allen Weisberg, founder and chief executive of Apple Industries, one of the world’s leading makers of contemporary photobooths, is not surprised by the bidding war for the pop art icon’s painting or his use of a common coin-op machine.

“Warhol was fascinated with the photobooth,” Weisberg told VT. “He regularly had celebrities and famous models to go to Times Square to have their pictures taken in photobooths. And he was fascinated with the photobooth for the same reason its has lasted 75 years; it’s living art. He just realized it before everyone else. He saw it intertwined in art and society. He saw there was something special about a photobooth.”

Lichtenstein pop art & Warhol pop art stolen from NY home!

Paul Gibson — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:52:38 +0000

Authorities are ramping up their effort to solve a Manhattan mystery: Who drilled a hole into the home of a beef fortune heir and stole a collection of iconic Roy Lichtenstein pop art and Andy Warhol pop art works?

The culprits also made off with surveillance video footage that might have caught them in the act.

The New York Police Department released images of the personalized pop art canvas on Thursday, hoping someone might help solve last month’s crime in the trendy Meatpacking District by recognizing works like a well-known Lichtenstein pop art called “Thinking Nude.”

Authorities estimate the five-story apartment was burglarized sometime during Thanksgiving week, when owner and art collector Robert Romanoff was away.

Calls to Romanoff’s home went unanswered Friday.

Also taken from the building was a Lichtenstein pop art canvas called “Moonscape,” the Carl Fudge oil painting “Live Cat,” the Warhol pop art canvases “The Truck” and “Superman,” and a set of eight signed Warhol pop art canvas prints from 1986 called “Camouflage.” They’re among the artist’s last works before his death the following year.

Authorities estimate the artworks personifying the pop art movement, plus stolen Cartier and Rolex watches and other jewelry, are worth about $750,000.

The Romanoff home is in a neighborhood filled with old warehouses and meatpacking companies now turned into retail and living space, restaurants and boutiques.

Police say the thief drilled a hole through the wall of a hallway sometime between Nov. 24 and 28.

Lichtenstein, who died in 1997, created “Thinking Nude” in 1994 — one of 40 limited-edition works that are part of his “Nudes” series based on comic-book illustrations.

A similar personalized pop art canvas print recently sold for about $85,000 at Christie’s, according to the auction house’s website.

Warhol’s “Superman” pop art canvas is part of his 1980s “Myths” series featuring fictional characters with mass-cultural appeal, including Mickey Mouse and Uncle Sam.

Romanoff is heir to a beef company fortune that started as a New York City meat store opened by his immigrant relatives in 1905. He’s now president of the New Jersey-based Nebraska Meat Corp., one of the country’s biggest distributors of smoked meat that for years owned property in the Meatpacking District.

Story courtesy of AP

Potential New Record For Lichtenstein Pop Art Canvas!

Paul Gibson — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 02:28:03 +0000

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Steve Wynn $40 Million Lichtenstein Signals Pickup in Auctions

Steve Wynn’s Roy Lichtenstein pop art canvas titled “Ohhh … Alright…’’ (1964) could sell for $40 million at Christie’s International on Nov. 10.

At that price, the artist’s Pop depiction of a fetching redhead sighing sadly on the phone would easily top his current $16.3 million auction record. It would also confirm a growing belief among sellers, dealers and auctioneers that the art market has sailed out of the doldrums.

“It’s business as usual, without the boom or the bust,’’ said Michael Findlay, a director at New York’s Acquavella Galleries.

As the major auction houses mount their big autumn sales, hundreds of sellers are aiming to take advantage of renewed confidence in the art sector, coming in the wake of a series of buzzy European art fairs and auctions. Wynn, the Las Vegas casino operator, is also offering Jean-Michel Basquiat’s jagged 1982 portrait of himself beside Andy Warhol, which has a high estimate of $10 million.

The two-week November art auctions roll into Manhattan starting Tuesday, with Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips de Pury & Co. offering Impressionist, modern and contemporary artworks valued at an estimated total of $1.5 billion.

“I feel appetite and confidence,’’ said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s worldwide head of contemporary art. “There is cash around. People are sensing art is a very good investment. There is no reticence. The question is, where can I get good quality?’’

Christie’s won a trio of art-stocked estates. “This is a pretty unusual yield of quality, even for the best of times,’’ said Christie’s Deputy Chairman Amy Cappellazzo.

Cowboy Warhol

The estate of Dennis Hopper includes a 1971 blue Andy Warhol pop art portrait of the actor in a cowboy hat, projected to sell for as much as $1.2 million. Computer pioneer Max Palevsky’s estate is offering classic works by Frank Stella, Alexander Calder, Donald Judd and Fernand Leger. The late dealer Robert Shapazian’s cache of Warhols includes portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy, an electric chair and a 1962 “Campbell’s Soup Can (Tomato)” estimated to sell for as much as $8 million.

Warhol as usual dominates the contemporary sales, with 19 works in Sotheby’s and Christie’s evening sales. Will the market ever tire of Mr. Warhol? For now, the experts say no.

“Warhol is the volume trade,’’ said Cappellazzo. “The more it sells, the more people want it. It trades like currency.’’

Sotheby’s has hitched its Nov. 9 sale to a stark, sophisticated, black-and-white 1962 Warhol pop art canvas of a Coca- Cola bottle almost 7 feet tall and estimated to sell for as much as $25 million. The seller, former curator Elizabeth Rea, bought the painting with her late husband in 1983 at Christie’s for $143,000.

Gund Rothko

A delicate yellow-and-orange 1955 Mark Rothko is another Sotheby’s highlight, with a high estimate of $30 million. The undisclosed seller is Boston architect Graham Gund and wife Ann, who are listed in the Rothko catalog of works as the owners. Gund is the brother of New York art patron Agnes Gund. The Gunds have owned the Rothko for 55 years.

Christie’s Nov. 10 evening sale includes Warhol’s 1962 “Big Campbell’s Soup Can with Can Opener (Vegetable),’’ with a high estimate of $50 million. The seller, Seattle collector Barney Ebsworth, has said he will use the proceeds to construct a church designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

A shiny blue reflective Jeff Koons steel sculpture titled “Balloon Flower (Blue)’’ is being sold by the Daimler Art Collection, estimated to sell for as much as $16 million. The price reflects some recession fallout: A magenta version of the same sculpture sold in 2008 at Christie’s for $25.8 million, establishing a record for the artist at auction.

Fleshy Nude

The auctions begin Nov. 2 with an Impressionist and modern sale at Sotheby’s. The headliner is Amedeo Modigliani’s 1917 fleshy nude, “Nu Assis sur un Divan (La Belle Romaine),’’ estimated to sell for more than $40 million.

“It’s generally acknowledged that Modigliani’s greatest achievements are these nudes. They are like centerfolds from another era,’’ said Sotheby’s head of Impressionist and modern art Simon Shaw.

While Christie’s failed to rope in a blockbuster picture for its Impressionist and modern sale, it offers a solid field. Joan Miro’s blue-and-yellow 1938 “L’Air,’’ with biomorphic forms frolicking in outer space is estimated to fetch as much as $18 million.

The season’s wild card is the Russian-backed third-place house Phillips de Pury, which is opening a new midtown salesroom. In addition to its usual contemporary-art sale on Nov. 8, the auction house tapped influential private dealer Philippe Segalot to assemble an extra session, including a black-and-white 1962 Warhol titled “Men in Her Life,’’ featuring Elizabeth Taylor’s romantic conquests, estimated to fetch about $40 million.

Experts are bullish about sale prospects. “It feels like a stronger place to be than when everything was so frothy,’’ said Suzanne Gyorgy, head of Citi Private Bank’s art advisory service.

Story courtesy of Bloomberg

No To Takashi Murakami’s Manga Pop Art Canvas In Versailles!

Paul Gibson — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 11:49:00 +0000

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The retrospective sets Murakami’s work against the palace’s rococo splendour.

A Palace of Versailles defence group and a descendant of the man who had it built, King Louis XIV, are seeking an injunction against works by Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami being shown there. Though his pop art canvas works can be found in galleries across the city.

“It’s about translating into judicial terms the debate and opposition that have been raised by exposing Murakami works,” Arnaud Upinsky, president of the Versailles Defence Coordination, said of the show that opened September 14.

The 48-year-old Japanese artist’s hugely popular work evokes the look of “manga” comic books, depicting often giant characters in multi-coloured metal, fibreglass and acrylic, currently set against the palace’s rococo splendour. Some of his works can also be seen on pop art canvas prints.

The suit is being brought by Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon-Parme in defence of “respecting the chateau and ancestors” while the “people”, represented by seven visitors, are suing to defend the “right to access to heritage.”

“By exhibiting at Versailles, artists benefit from an added value,” the prince said.

“We’re not against the modernity of art but against a way of thinking that denatures and does French culture no good.”

In 2008, his nephew, Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme, tried to get a show featuring US artist Jeff Koons’s bright and bizarre sculptures banned, saying it dishonoured his family’s past, but the courts dismissed his bid.

“Bringing displeasure before justice is always difficult and, as two years ago, we’re going to seek a temporary injunction from the Versailles administrative court for serious violation of basic freedoms.”

French King Louis XVI was driven from the chateau by revolutionaries in 1789 and guillotined four years later. His ancestor Louis XIV had set up court there in the 17th century, living in his royal apartments – site of the exhibition.

Visitors in 2008 flocked to the Koons show and to the second in the series in 2009, with works by French pop artist Xavier Veilhan including futuristic purple horses, a naked woman, and a colossal four-metre-long Yuri Gagarin.

Murakami’s show, which runs to December 12, is his first major retrospective in France.

A Personalized Warhol Pop Art Canvas For Your Sweetheart?

Paul Gibson — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:18:04 +0000

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Britney Spears Tricked Into These Takashi Murakami Pop Art Pics?

Paul Gibson — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:32:25 +0000

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Was Britney Spears Bamboozled Into Virtual Child Porn Protest Art? Britney Spears is on the cover of British publication Pop Magazine. The images, the work of one of Japan’s most famous artists, feature Britney in a bathing suit and a wedding dress. If only it were that simple. It’s not.

The photos were art directed by Takashi Murakami, who is often referred to as “The Andy Warhol of Japan” for his pop-infused art. Murakami draws from manga and anime to create his work, which has adorned everything from Louis Vuitton bags to Kanye West albums.

In the interview, Spears says she is a Murakami fan. “I loved working with Takashi,” she said. “I especially liked how he took high-end fashion and incorporated it with Japanese manga.”

Takashi Murakami | Britney Spears 2 | Manga Pop Art

No word whether Spears especially likes the Japanese manga the photos seem to refer to: “My Wife Is A Grade Schooler”. Back when the Tokyo Municipal government was looking to ban the questionable depictions of underage characters in anime, manga and video games, My Wife Is A Grade Schooler, an out of print manga, was fingered as an example of a work that depicted young characters in an inappropriate manner.

When the manga was shown on television, yellow Post-its were used to cover the suggestive bits. However, the Post-its made the manga appear more suggestive than it actually is. The manga itself is considered a “gag manga” and even social criticism. It apparently isn’t as bad as it looks, and some said the way it was handled on TV was political scapegoating. The cover of “My Wife Is A Grade Schooler” (pictured) echoes the imagery used in the Spears’ photographs. Same red backpack, same blue bathing, wedding dress.

Takashi Murakami | Britney Spears 3| Manga Pop Art

This is no accident. Murakami and Seiji Matsuyama, the author of My Wife Is A Grade Schooler, have been talking on Twitter about the photographs in relationship to the erotic manga. And Matsuyama linked the Pop Magazine photographs on his website. Matsuyama even called the photos a “Takashi Murakami x Britney Spears x My Wife Is A Grade Schooler collaboration”. According to Murakami’s tweets, this is a project to show that these type of manga are Art.

“As the Seiji Matsuyama incident became a symbol of the virtual child problem,” Murakami tweeted after the photos were made public, “I thought it should be immortalized as an artistic event to be marked in history. I am an artist. Because of this, I did what artists do.”

Takashi Murakami | Britney Spears 4| Manga Pop Art

Whether the virtual child legislation should have passed or whether these images are art or are pornography is beyond the scope of this article. What is at issue here is whether Britney Spears was in on the plan? Did she know what exactly she was participating in? That the imagery in those photographs is connected to what some critics are calling child pornography?

Kotaku has reached out to the singer’s management, but the fact that Britney might not have known she was involved in this protest plot makes the images that much more compelling. Spears made a career by mining and exploiting Western stereotypes about young girls. Here, she is used to memorialize a Japanese political issue over the depiction of underage characters with loaded imagery. Then again, this is someone who became a MTV superstar by dressing as a schoolgirl Lolita.

Takashi Murakami | Britney Spears 5 | Manga Pop Art

Britney Spears’s manager Adam Leber has been on Twitter asking people what they thought of the layout, calling the photos “very different and fresh”. Currently, the images are the background on Spears’s Twitter. “I just saw the photos for the first time and they are beautiful,” Spears tweeted on August. “Comes out Sept. 1st”.

*This article was courtesy of www.kotaku.com.

Weird Interviews – Andy Warhol vs Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman

Paul Gibson — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:45:14 +0000

This is a really quirky interview with Andy Warhol. Probably inspired a few other Joaquin Phoenixs’ out there!

Here is the Joaquin Phoenix one from the David Letterman show below.

PopArtPal’s Andy Warhol Pop Art Canvas Gallery!

Paul Gibson — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:22:45 +0000

Check out some of the personalized pop art canvas pieces from our Andy Warhol Gallery!

Pop art canvas–Warhol Pop Art–Personalized Image 4

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Andy Warhol – The Father of the Pop Art Movement

Paul Gibson — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:11:23 +0000

Many of us have heard of Andy Warhol and the Warhol pop art style that is prevalent in advertising and media. However who was Andy Warhol really? And how did he become a leading figure in the pop art movement? We profile the man and his life.

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents had emigrated to the United States from Ruthenia, in the Slovak Republic.

Andy studied in the Carnegie Institute of Technology between 1945 and 1949. After his studies Andy Warhol started off as a commercial artist in New York, working for magazines such as the The New Yorker and Vogue. He also designed advertising and window displays

His first exhibition Fifteen Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote, was a cult classic and were the first reflections into the mind of this genius. Soon after in the late 50’s and 60’s he started experimenting with silk screen printing and began using newspaper headlines, celebrities and other easily recognizable images from American culture in his work.

The term pop art or popular art came into the forefront around this time as many other artists around the world incorporated such every day things into their art. This mass adoption was what was referred to as the pop art movement.

Some of the celebrities he featured in his personalized pop art work include Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Liz Taylor and John F Kennedy. The Warhol pop art style also became synonymous with modern day chic.

These days many graphic artists around the world still emulate the classic Warhol pop art style in their works. Personalized pop art canvas studios can also be found all around the world and on the Internet.

Besides being one of the most influential artists from the 20^th century, Andy was also an entrepreneur with investments in magazine, television shows and underground classic films. He had made over 300 films for which he used many of friends as actors. Many of his films were also pornographic in nature.

Like many great creative geniuses Warhol had an eccentric personality and was openly homosexual. He enjoyed mingling with celebrities, and kept company with many well known flamboyant individuals in the gay community. He had also used several of these acquaintances in his movies. In the later part of his life he also started wearing a silver wig. Pop art canvas prints of Andy Warhol in his silver wig are some of his more popular self portraits.

On the 22^nd of February 1987, Andy Warhol died suddenly at a New York hospital following a gall bladder operation. Andy Warhol’s works can be seen at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You will find his pop art canvas prints, personalized pop art (featuring celebrities) paintings, sketches, drawings, photographs, films and other pieces of work. The museum is a must see for all followers of the pop art movement.

If you want to create personalized pop art canvas prints in Andy Warhol’s signature Warhol pop art style then visit PopArtPal.com for a truly unique visual experience. Our photos to pop art rendering process will create spellbinding pieces of artwork for your home/office and make great gifts for loved ones as well.