Irina Kulik will analyze elements of the pop aesthetic in the practice of two British artists representing different generations.
Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) is Britain’s most renowned pop artist. In 1956, at the iconic show This Is Tomorrow at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, Hamilton displayed the collage Just what it is that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?—one of the earliest and most recognizable pop artworks. An outstanding painter, graphic artist, curator, theorist, and pedagogue, Hamilton is also remembered as a passionate fan of Marcel Duchamp whose retrospective he organized at Tate in 1966, and rock music addict, especially The Rolling Stones and The Beatles (for the latter he designed a cover for the White Album). Hamilton represented the British Pavilion at the 45th Venice Biennale where he was awarded the Golden Lion (1993).
Mark Leckey (b. 1964) is a contemporary British artist and musician, working primarily with audio, video, and collage techniques. Leckey exhibited alongside Damien Hirst at the important exhibition New Contemporaries at ICA London as early as 1990 but became famous slightly later—with the release of his film Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999). While Leckey’s pieces often possess a certain feeling of irony and nostalgia, they can also be characterized by the influence of British history, mass culture, and pop art. Leckey’s exhibition project Industrial Light and Magic (2007) was awarded the 2008 Turner Prize. His artworks are in the collection of Tate and Centre Georges Pompidou. Born in Liverpool, the artist has been living and working in London for more than twenty years.
