Wolverhampton Art Gallery will add a splash of colour to the Enjoy Wolverhampton ten-day programme of events next month. The Lichfield Street gallery will begin its Sunday opening times from July 3 (10.30am to 4.30pm) – and you better bring your sunglasses to savour a neon mix of colours erupting in the venue’s latest celebration of the Pop Art Movement. The ‘Craft Goes Pop’ exhibition is now on show and brings together handmade works by leading designers influenced by the Pop Art movement.
The exhibition is curated by Bluecoat Display Centre, an independent contemporary craft gallery, based in Liverpool and one of the UK’s earliest craft galleries, which opened in 1959.
Bright and innovative jewellery, collaged boxes and contemporary ceramic jars as well as a range of Campbell’s Soup style cans in ceramic, are among the items being shown in the exhibition, which runs until September 3.
Wolverhampton has one of the most extensive collections of work from the Pop Art movement outside of the world’s major international galleries. Pieces by Pop artists Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton and Peter Blake are regularly shown at the gallery.
Inspired by the 1960s and 70s mass consumerism and popular culture, the Pop Art movement attracted musicians, celebrities and leading figures of the day and its influence continues into the 21st century.
The new show complements the gallery’s ‘A Big Bang – The Origins of the Pop Art Collection, part 2’, which runs until August 13 and looks at the reason why artworks by some of the biggest names in Pop Art found their home in Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, Councillor John Reynolds, said: “Our Pop Art collection is one of the best in the country and the influence the movement continues to have on today’s artists is evident in this new exhibition.”
Craft Goes Pop is free and features work by Lucy Foakes, Kate Gorman, Rachael Howard, Jeanne-Marie Kenny, Holly Levell, Sarah Packington, Anais Paulard, Iain Perry, Taz Pollard, Natalka Melnyk, and Christine Toh.