The years following World War II ushered in a generation of unprecedented prosperity in America. Commercial production boomed, as an unprecendented range of mass-produced goods and labor-saving devices were produced for a modern way of life. Such modern approaches—mass produced cars, canned foods, suburban neighborhoods, and supermarkets—transformed American life.

Beginning in the early 1960s, Pop Artist embraced the imagery and style of advertising and popular media that dominated American culture. They appropriated fast food, grocery labels, movie stars, and other aspects of popular culture as the new language and values of contemporary life. Yet, beneath the glamour of prosperity and technological advancement, society grappled with complex social and political issues that defined and divided the nation.

Pop Art’s bold works offer an incisive lens into American material culture. Its imagery simultaneously reflected yet also appraised the social issues that continue to shape contemporary America.