One Pop. 50 Pop Icons. An Experiment with Pop Culture
The series is a profoundly personal project that resides on sentiments that are poles apart. What started as a deeply personal experience of painting one’s Pop, deep dived to explore mass hysteria centred around Pop Culture. This ongoing series explores unique hand-drawn images of my Pop (Dad) asPop icons across various decades, genres and cultures. In English, the word "Pop" stands for various meanings. But out of those two the most prevalent meanings are-
1. (Adj.): Popular or widely accepted.
2. (N.): Another term for father.
My Pop was never famous nor was he a sought-after man. He was a simpleton living a simple life - an ordinary routine, an ordinary job in the Railways, ordinary dreams that culminated in simple middle-class realities. He was not the president of any local club, nor did he win a lottery. He never even got close to centre stage past his wedding day. Despite living such an ordinary unpopular life, in a world thriving 24/7 on insta-popularity, my simple Pop was simply happy.
He married late. I too took my own sweet time to come along.
This resulted in us being two generations apart. Far from Pop's unpopular universe, I live in a world connected on Facebook,
breathing on Instagram, fighting on Twitter, binging on
Quirky Memes and Pop-Culture. All who occupy the center stage exist. All others are as good as non-existent.
Herein started my experiment with the two Pops. The plan was simple – I began with a painting I made of Pop and then
started repainting him into Pop Icons who dominate the mainstream alleys of social and digital media. An unpopular face was slowly assuming multiple popular identities. I was doing 'Pop'-culture my way.
Is this my quest to make my unpopular Pop popular? Is this a comment on Pop culture?
Or is it simply a practical joke I am pulling on my dad? Frankly speaking, it is none of the above while being all of these.
And so the journey continues to amuse myself creating art with the ‘Pop’ icon of my life while he continues to simply enjoy,
simple amusements of his simpleton life.
The series is a profoundly personal project that resides on sentiments that are poles apart. What started as a deeply personal experience of painting one’s Pop, deep dived to explore mass hysteria centred around Pop Culture. This ongoing series explores unique hand-drawn images of my Pop (Dad) asPop icons across various decades, genres and cultures. In English, the word "Pop" stands for various meanings. But out of those two the most prevalent meanings are-
1. (Adj.): Popular or widely accepted.
2. (N.): Another term for father.
My Pop was never famous nor was he a sought-after man. He was a simpleton living a simple life - an ordinary routine, an ordinary job in the Railways, ordinary dreams that culminated in simple middle-class realities. He was not the president of any local club, nor did he win a lottery. He never even got close to centre stage past his wedding day. Despite living such an ordinary unpopular life, in a world thriving 24/7 on insta-popularity, my simple Pop was simply happy.
He married late. I too took my own sweet time to come along.
This resulted in us being two generations apart. Far from Pop's unpopular universe, I live in a world connected on Facebook,
breathing on Instagram, fighting on Twitter, binging on
Quirky Memes and Pop-Culture. All who occupy the center stage exist. All others are as good as non-existent.
Herein started my experiment with the two Pops. The plan was simple – I began with a painting I made of Pop and then
started repainting him into Pop Icons who dominate the mainstream alleys of social and digital media. An unpopular face was slowly assuming multiple popular identities. I was doing 'Pop'-culture my way.
Is this my quest to make my unpopular Pop popular? Is this a comment on Pop culture?
Or is it simply a practical joke I am pulling on my dad? Frankly speaking, it is none of the above while being all of these.
And so the journey continues to amuse myself creating art with the ‘Pop’ icon of my life while he continues to simply enjoy,
simple amusements of his simpleton life.
Original Pop (Acrylic on canvas): Where it Started.....
