Probably the most famous artist who centered his work around consumer culture and advertising was Andy Warhol. He reached his level of international fame through his paintings and silk screens that copied the labels of major brands like Campbell’s and Coca-Cola, examples of each are shown below. He incorporated brands without their consent and not at their request. He did not place them in any context that obviously satirized them (as can be seen below with Detzner’s work in the following post). Instead, he merely reproduced them by taking actual labels, such as a the one shown below and presenting them as his own (in this instance, through the appearance of his signature) or by silk screening images of them and showing them in repetition. His work was more concerned with the clash between fine art, which is seen as one-of-a-kind pieces that are worth a great deal and meant to be revered, with advertising, and items which are artifacts of consumer culture, which are by definition commodities and one of many. Warhol pleased himself a great deal by attempting to make the common uncommon, through the slightest manipulation, in the hopes that the new context would make people think twice about both art and pop culture.
