Pop Art

This new, exciting and highly practical course offers the opportunity to explore and re-examine the groundbreaking Pop Art movement that mainly flourished in America and Britain, but also across the globe, between the 1950s and '70s. Students will have the chance to investigate the historical context in which Pop Art was born and involved, and its unique styles and methods, inspired by and based on artists’ opposition to traditional dominant approaches to art and culture and their beliefs on what art should be. What was its interpretation by British artists, and what forms of Pop Art we can find nowadays?

Students will build upon their understanding on older, traditional and contemporary forms of Pop Art, mixing innovative and traditional techniques, focusing on things connected to their lives. Commonplace, usually low-cost objects that they experience and see around them every day, will be incorporated into their artwork, either altered or in their original forms, along with other mainstream culture images such as commercial items, photos of celebrities, newspapers, brand names and logos, road signs, comic books, magazines, product packaging and so on.

Focusing on Pop Art’s defining characteristics, students will journey through recognisable imagery, bright colours, analogue and digital techniques such as a combination of screen printing and digital editing of the image, printing with found objects, mixed media collage and painting, vibrant compositions, all mixed with humour and, maybe, a tad of irony and satire, pointing occasionally on consumerism.

• Fundamental principles of Pop Art, including colour theory, composition, shape, form, mark-making, and contrast
• Exploring different themes and experimenting with a range of creative mediums, including painting, mono-printing, mixed media, and collage, including screen printing with special access to our unique printmaking facilities
• Traditional and non-traditional image-making methods, including reproduction, overlay, duplication and combining images using Adobe Creative Suite software programs
• Exploring the Pop Art movement origins in America and its influence on British art
• Exploring and identifying the most prolific Pop Art artists and their work

• Possess the skills needed to create Pop Art imagery in a range of different mediums
• Understand a range of processes related to the Pop Art genre, and have the confidence to execute them effectively
• Have hands-on experience creating using both traditional and non-traditional image-making methods
• Have increased confidence in your own skills and feel inspired
• Have boosted creativity and imagination
• Be encouraged to experiment and explore your ideas, remembering that there's no right or wrong way to be creative
• Possess the foundations to continue creating beyond this course
• Leave with a range of beautiful pieces designed and created by you

All students with 100% course attendance will be issued with an official AUB Short Course certificate of attendance.

After this course, you could:

• Continue to harness your creativity and develop your art and design skills further; explore our full range of Art, Design, Drawing and Painting short courses
• Broaden your creative horizons and try your hand at a range of disciplines; explore our full range of evening and weekend courses
• Continue to develop your skills at home as a hobby
  

• You'll study at a leading specialist university – we know what we're doing when it comes to providing unparalleled courses
• Our tutors are industry professionals, so you'll learn from the best
• We cater for all abilities and have no formal entry requirements for this course, so there's nothing holding you back
• You'll learn in a safe and encouraging environment where there's no right or wrong way to be creative
• You'll learn 'by doing' and always feel fully included and supported
• Benefit from our incredible campus and its industry-standard studios, and use state-of-the-art equipment and software to unleash your creativity