Outline

In the latter half of the 1950s in London, Richard Hamilton drew acclaim in the art world for his collages and paintings common images from the popular mass culture of the day such as photographs from car or home electronics advertisements, pin-up girl images, cut-outs from comic books and the faces of celebrities. 

Until that time, such subject matter was considered too mundane to be suitable for art, but Hamilton wanted his works to reflect the realities of the times and chose these representative images as the best means to express the popular mass-consumption trend in society after World War II. This type of work pioneered by Hamilton and fellow artists in Britain came to be known as pop art and actually preceded the similar work that artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol would soon be creating in New York using images from comics or photos of movie stars. 

Rather than simply being an attempt to create something interestingly new in art through the use of mundane popular images, however, Hamilton’s artistic intent in using such images can surely be seen as an attempt to explore the ways in which human beings in modern society create visual environments around them. This artistic pursuit is found not only in Hamilton’s collages and painting but also in his prints that are the focus of this exhibition. The prints in the exhibition are presented in six sections with each revealing a different aspect of Hamilton’s creative process.

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Profile

Born in London in 1922, Richard Hamilton attended the Royal Academy and the Slade School of Art. During the mid-1950s, his quest for an art form that reflected the realities of the life environment he saw around him, he became one of the pioneers of pop art in London, even before it would emerge in the USA. From there on, he created oil paintings, collages, photographs and prints using a variety of techniques that involved reproducing and processing images produced by the mass media as visual information, such as advertisement images, photographs or still images from movies, portraits of celebrities, picture postcards and newspaper clippings. Consistent through all of his works regardless of the medium or techniques involved was an exploration of our human process of visual perception. Hamilton died in 2011.

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Related Events

Curator Gallery Talks

Aug. 5 (Sun.), 10 (Fri.), Sept. 9 (Sun.) 14:00－15:00　
Gather at Entrance Hall 　Free
 

Summer Vacation Events

Aug. 18 (Sat.), 19 (Sun.)
Workshops on the subject of color and evening outdoor film showings are planned. 
Information will be posted on the museum website as details are decided.