Coming Soon to Pepperdine: Pop!

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Claes Oldenburg. James Rosenquist. Richard Artschwager.

These are just some of the names that will be featured in Pepperdine University’s exhibition “Pop! 50 Years of Art & Popular Culture from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation,” which opens on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

The more-than-50-piece collection will feature vintage examples of historic Pop art, combined with work by younger artists—all taking a look at the varied ways contemporary art continues to reflect mass media and daily life.

“Andy Warhol created his first Campbell’s Soup Can paintings in 1962—over 50 years ago,” said Michael Zakian, director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, in a statement. “Although the style is over half a century old, the imagery still strikes us as new and fresh.”

Pop art first appeared in the early 1960s and since then, many artists have drawn inspiration from popular culture.

“Pop has proven to be a remarkably resilient and flexible style, renewing itself with each generation of young artists who look at the world around them with an alert and lively eye,” the statement read. “The artists in this exhibition draw inspiration from a wide range of daily experiences, from comic books to television, from kitchen toasters to manhole covers. Including work by the pioneers of the movement as well as by newer talents, this exhibition reveals that the Pop spirit is ever renewed in the eye of the beholder.”

Highlights of the exhibition include Artschwager’s “Exclamation Point” and Keith Haring’s explorations of graffiti art.

The exhibition was organized by Billie Milam Weisman and will remain open through Dec. 2. An opening reception will take on Sunday, Sept. 9, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Located on Pepperdine’s main campus in Malibu, the museum is open Tuesday through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except for major holidays), as well as special hours before shows at Smothers Theatre. There is no charge for admission.

A second part of the exhibition will be on display at the Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery, located at 1310 11th Street in Santa Monica, from Tuesday, Sept. 4, through Saturday, Oct. 13.