International Pop
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International Pop

Organized by the Walker Art Center, International Pop chronicles the global emergence of Pop art from the 1950s through the early 1970s. While previous exhibitions and prevailing scholarship have primarily focused on the dominance of Pop activity in New York and London during this time, this exhibition examines work from artists across the globe who were confronting many of the same radical developments, laying the foundation for the emergence of an art form that embraced figuration, media strategies, and mechanical processes with a new spirit of urgency and/or exuberance.

This groundbreaking exhibition follows the trajectories of Pop and its critical points of contact with global developments in art such as Nouveau Réalisme (France), Concretism and Neo-Concretism (Brazil), the Art of Things (Argentina), Anti-Art (Japan), Capitalist Realism (Germany), Happenings, and Neo-Dada. As such, the landmark exhibition recaptures the energy and inquisitiveness of this moment in art, expanding the frame of its influence and diversity while reenergizing questions around the true significance, breadth, and definition of Pop art.

Created in dialogue with an international array of curators and scholars, International Pop features some 140 works from 14 countries as well as a dedicated film/video program daily in the galleries.

The Walker-produced exhibition catalogue offers an in-depth study of the international Pop phenomenon with essays by scholars, film critics, and curators from Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Britain, the United States, Hungary, and Italy; an extensive visual chronology; a roundtable discussion; and a selection of stunning images, many rarely seen outside their countries of origin.

Following its presentation at the Walker, International Pop will tour to the Dallas Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art through 2016.

Curators: Darsie Alexander with Bartholomew Ryan

Visual Arts Curatorial Fellow: Mia Lopez

Tour Dates

    • Walker Art Center, Minneapolis | April 11–August 29, 2015
    • Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas | October 11, 2015–January 17, 2016
    • Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia | February 24–May 15, 2016

In the Walker Shop

In addition to the International Pop exhibition catalogue, the Walker Shop features several exhibition-related items, including Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica’s Seja marginal, seja herói (Be an outlaw, be a hero) T-shirt and a limited-edition Foodscape puzzle featuring the kaleidoscopic painting by Icelandic artist Erró.

Funding

  • International Pop is organized by the Walker Art Center. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

    Major support for the exhibition is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation, Prospect Creek Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Margaret and Angus Wurtele Family Foundation.

    Additional support is generously provided by Lewis Baskerville, Judy Dayton, Lyn De Logi, Martha and John Gabbert, the Robert Lehman Foundation, the Peyton Family Foundation, Donna and Jim Pohlad, Robert and Rebecca Pohlad, Judith and Stephen Shank, Mike and Elizabeth Sweeney, Marge and Irv Weiser, Annette and John Whaley, and Audrey and Zygi Wilf. Support for the exhibition catalogue is provided by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of Walker Art Center publications. Media partner Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.

     

    The Walker Art Center’s presentation is sponsored by:

Lead Sponsor

Supporting sponsor

  • Briggs and Morgan

Media partner

Hotel partners