PETER MAX the KING OF POP ART

        As you may have gathered from reading any of my posts, I am a child of the 60's, it has influenced my life and my art, and Peter Max was a large part of that influence.

        To quote from his own biography,"To the youth of America, the 60's was more than just another decade, it was the great American renaissance.  The Beatles sang about it, the musical Hair, brought it to Broadway stage."  One artist above all, Peter Max visually captured it's creative spirit and it's promise of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius."







      






       







      

I have always appreciated his style, his use of color and the message he seamed to always convey, but where did he come from and how did he get noticed.  Well to spare all the details of his early beginnings, he was a true student of his craft.

     




       Excited by the mid 60's counterculture explosion, Max turned to the medium of collage to create a mind expanding psychedelic vision.  Although the art of collage had been around for many years, the use of photographic images in kaleidoscopic patterns was pioneered by Max, and he turned his art work into posters which sold all across America.




















        When I was in college, his psychedelic posters were everywhere and the use of color to convey his message was exceptional.  His art was in sync with the times, so much so that it was said that his retail sales in a three year period topped $1 billion.  They even commissioned him to paint a commercial jet.

        Well it is now the 21st century and he continues to create art for this time as evident with his renditions of President Obama.

        I love this guy's art and I am especially happy to see that he continues to work and capture the moment.  It's an inspiration to any of us who ever picked up a brush.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY MY FRIENDS...ZMAKEY

ZMAKEY ART STUDIO AND GALLERY

VISIT US AT ZMAKEYART-GOOGLE SITES
FACEBOOK-ZMAKEY ART STUDIO AND GALLERY 
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WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY ART?

        Contemporary Art to me is any painter or painting that has been created within our generation.  That would go as far back as the 60's or 70's.

        I have personally lived through those years to witness what I call a transformation in the art world.  I have always felt that the rise of social consciousness and feelings of helplessness after the assassination of President Kennedy, the struggles of the Civil Rights movement and the beginning of the Vietnam war in the 1960's, led to what we call our generation of Contemporary Art.

        Pop art which was a more care free and fun, had its influence in the 1960's with Andy Warhol and Peter Max to name a few.

        There was also art that depicted hardship and struggle.

        Also art that expressed tragedy. 

        That generation of art continues to this day with many new causes and social injustices to paint about and today's artists haven't let me down.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY MY FRIENDS...ZMAKEY

ZMAKEY ART STUDIO AND GALLERY

VISIT US AT ZMAKEYART-GOOGLE SITES
FACEBOOK-ZMAKEY ART STUDIO AND GALLERY 
AND
FINE ART AMERICA.COM