pop culture

Manou Marzban – An Artist for Our Times

Sandra Bertrand

This lighthearted genius of pop culture wants to make people think as well. Every icon from our combined histories is fair game for deconstruction, from colorfully painted World War II Nazi helmets—“just a piece of  metal”—to cartoon renderings of historical figures from the Qajar dynasty. Marzban’s vivid imagination holds supreme sway over every endeavor. He has said that if he analyzes an undertaking, he would never finish it.

How South Korea, Japan, and Other Countries Came to Dominate the Pop Culture Landscape

Garrett Hartman

The growth of foreign media’s popularity poses many interesting questions as to the future shape of media in the U.S. and worldwide. While platforms like Netflix seem content to purchase and serve as a distributor for foreign content, how will American media producers, especially in fields in which they are lagging behind foreigners, try to appeal to domestic audiences? How will questions of media representation be perceived with art created in different nations and different local contexts?

Donald Topp and the Art of Skewering Pop Culture Icons

The Editors

Topp uses mixed media with screen printing in overlapping layers on paper and board. Images are hand-pulled with mixed-media application in each print, with predetermined sizes and ink selections for different bodies of work.  In the last few years, Topp’s tattooed Disney Princesses and Sesame Street characters have gone viral to the point that his pieces have been pinned over a million times on Pinterest.

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