Abstract art pretty much exploded into our world post-war in the 1940s via Picasso et al and took the traditional scene by storm with its peculiarity. It didn’t take long for a select bundle of creatives to evolve in the movement in their own way that stood out through each’s powerful style better known as Pop Art. One of these geniuses is Peter Saul, an American artist from San Francisco who spent a lot of his time in the 60s and 70s creating controversial cartoonish pieces mimicking historical events with roots in surrealism and humor. Now in a new exhibit at the very hip Venus Over Manhattan gallery on the Upper East Side you can see over 20 pieces of his crazy-awesome works in a collection called From Pop to Punk on display through April 18th.
“…I was obviously interested in rebellion in the arts whenever I could find a way to have a rebellion. It evidently seemed to me more romantic, more the thing to do. I mean, what do young artists think about? They think about making some dent on art. And at that moment, art seemed totally capitalistic. American art, anyway, seemed totally capitalistic, designed to be inside of large bank buildings, you know, that kind of thing. Holy cow. I mean, obviously, I am not going to take part in that.” – Peter Saul, from Oral History Interview With Peter Saul by Judith Olch Richards in Brooklyn, New York. 2009
Peter Saul at Venus Over Manhattan from Venus Over Manhattan on Vimeo.
(sources: Archives of American Art)
