Pop Art Gallery

Largest collection of Pop Art outside of London. Erica Rutherford, We Can’t All Be Perfect, c1970 Pop Art is characterised by bright bold rainbow colours and the appropriation of popular imagery from comics, books, magazines, television, product branding and advertising. Increased production and distribution of films and popular music created a rise in international celebrity icons, their faces becoming instantly recognisable through print media and television. The roots of British Pop Art began in London in 1952 with the Independent Group which included artists Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi. In America, the movement was thriving in the 1960s with Andy Warhol as a trail blazer after the establishment of his studio, The Factory in 1962. This display highlights some of the gallery’s most iconic Pop works by leading British and American artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Peter Blake, Pauline Boty, Jann Haworth, James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol and David Hockney alongside recent acquisitions from Sue Dunkley and Erica Rutherford. Wolverhampton Art Gallery has a long history of collecting Pop Art driven by curator David Rodgers (1942–99) employed here from 1969-81. Our collection is considered one of the largest and most significant in the UK. Free admission