Image: Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962. © 2022 Andy Warhol Foundation

The works of David Hockney, who is considered one of the most significant and creative artists of our time, are exhibited in Turkey for the first time with the exhibition The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020 hosted by the Sakıp Sabancı Museum. The exhibition, which comprises the iPad paintings that he produced at his house in Normandy during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic; hosts events that shed light on the art of Hockney, who has been drawing with iPhone and iPad since the 2000s and has always searched for new technologies and methods throughout his long career. Assoc. Dr. Ayşe Hazar Köksal, who works on the organization forms in art, the relationship of contemporary art with the market, cultural policies and the culture industry, will deliver a conference talk titled ‘What Is Pop Art? What Is Not Pop Art?’ as a part of the exhibition.

Is Pop Art a product or a critique of popular culture? Does it raise mass culture objects to the status of art, or does it present this irony in an artistic way? The conference will focus on the transformation of Pop Art, which emerged as a critique of the mainstream art of the 1950s and 1960s; and over time, developed into a critique of its own thesis. The subjects of the fun products of Pop Art; media, fame and popularity, are essentially tools of the Pop artists in their critique of art, artist and consumer culture. The conference will provide hints on how David Hockney's unique art was shaped. In the cultural context of their period, it will also raise a discussion on the productions of Pop Art, which are fed by a combination of contrasts.

The event will be held in Turkish. Registration required.