‘Shiny, Sticky, Smooth’ Eye-Popping Art Exhibition To Grace Faulconer Gallery

“Shiny, Sticky, Smooth: Pop Art and the Senses — from the Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation" will be open to the public from Saturday, July 1, through Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Grinnell College's Faulconer Gallery.

Appropriate for all ages, the exhibition of more than 70 pop art prints and sculptures features generations of America’s most famous pop artists from the 1960s to 1990s. Pop art emerged from the booming consumer culture in post-World War II America, combining advertising imagery and strategies with bold colors and familiar objects.

 “Pop art was initially based on advertising and pop culture in the ‘50s, adapting principles of commercial design to the making of fine art. In today’s lexicon, we would call it ‘branding,’“ says Daniel Strong, curator of exhibitions for Faulconer Gallery. “Pop artists looked to consumer product advertising for their inspiration. It’s an art movement that turned brands into art and gave them stature.”

 “Shiny, Sticky, Smooth” includes works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Jeff Koons, and other exceptional artists who offer viewers deeper understanding of pop culture in the form of art.

“This appealing summer show goes a long way to making people realize they understand more of art than they think that they do,” said Lesley Wright, director of Faulconer Gallery. “These well-known artists, most not displayed here before, have made art out of everyday objects. The works in this exhibition are bright, colorful, fun, and will be recognizable to viewers’ senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell.”

Among the vivid, eye-catching collection, summer visitors to Faulconer Gallery will see:

• Warhol’s iconic soup can screen print;
• Lichtenstein’s “Interior Series” of furnishings from the ’60s;
• Robert Cottingham’s “American Signs” as art;
• Thiebaud’s lithographs of familiar food; and
• Rauschenberg’s mixed media of slingshots.

Faulconer Gallery events related to the pop art exhibition include:

Yoga in the Gallery with Monica St. Angelo

Thursdays, July 6 through Sept. 7, 12:15-12:50 p.m.

Enjoy a 30-minute yoga practice, including warming and invigorating poses and a final period of relaxation. All levels welcome. Mats provided. Co-sponsored by Live Well Grinnell.

Exhibition of Summer Student Artists

Friday, July 28, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

The community is invited to view artworks created by students in area summer programs, installed next to works in “Shiny, Sticky, Smooth.” Refreshments will be served.

Faulconer Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week (closed Tuesday, July 4), and admission is free. The Faulconer Gallery is in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, 1108 Park St., Grinnell.