International Pop

In February 2016, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will present International Pop, a groundbreaking survey of this important movement that explores Pop Art as a global phenomenon that was shaped by artists working in many different countries throughout the world. The exhibition features paintings, sculpture, assemblage, installation, printmaking, and film by eighty artists, drawn from public and private collections around the world, and offers an intriguing new look at a subject that is familiar. Viewing Pop Art through a much wider lens that amplifies a history commonly associated with major American figures like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, it is sure to delight audiences and broaden their understanding of one of the most significant chapters in the history of contemporary art. Organized by the Walker Art Center, this is the first traveling exhibition in the United States to present a comprehensive account of the development of Pop Art during the 1960s and 1970s. The Philadelphia Museum of Art will be its final venue and the only East Coast presentation.

Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, stated: “Pop was one of the most iconic art movements of the second half of the twentieth century. This exhibition is an ambitious effort to explore its emergence and impact far beyond the borders of the United States and Britain. We are delighted that in Philadelphia we will add to the exhibition some important works from private collections and our own holdings of contemporary art.”

Emerging first in the United Kingdom and the United States, Pop Art soon become an international phenomenon, finding expression in a bewildering variety of different forms and media. It was a product of a revolutionary social and political era as well as a response to the proliferation of consumer culture in the decades after World War II and the media—magazines, television, and motion pictures—that fueled its growth. The exhibition will give visitors a rare opportunity to see Pop Art in a new light. It will examine the factors that shaped artistic activity in the social democracies of Europe, the military regimes of Latin America, and Japan in the aftermath of U.S. occupation. It will include sections closely examining vital hubs of Pop activity in Great Britain, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, the United States, and Japan. International Pop will also bring together works from diverse geographic regions and different periods during the development of the movement to explore common themes and subjects.

Organizer 
International Pop is organized by the Walker Art Center where it was curated by Darsie Alexander (now Executive Director, Katonah Museum of Art) and Bartholomew Ryan (now independent curator). At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the presentation is organized by Erica F. Battle, The John Alchin and Hal Marryatt Associate Curator of Contemporary Art.

Support
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, the 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 Judy Dayton, Lyn De Logi, Marge and Irv Weiser, and Audrey and Zygi Wilf.

In Philadelphia, the exhibition is supported by the Estate of Phyllis T. Ballinger, the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions, The Laura and William C. Buck Endowment for Exhibitions, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, and the Japan-United States Friendship Commission. Additional generous donors include John Alchin and Hal Marryatt, Mitchell L. and Hilarie L. Morgan, Isabel and Agustín Coppel, Marsha and Jeffrey Perelman, and Lyn M. Ross.

Corporate support generously provided by RBC Wealth Management.

The Museum gratefully recognizes exhibition media partner Time Out.

For additional press information contact the press office at T 215 684 7860 or pressroom [​at​] philamuseum.org. For general information, call T 215 763 8100 or visit philamuseum.org.