Sunday, December 15, 2013

BOOK NOTE: POP!



Pop! Design, Culture, Fashion 1956-1976  
Antique Collectors Club Publishers, hard cover, 272 pages, 230 color illustrations, $59.95

This cheerful volume, released in conjunction with an eponymous exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London,  celebrates three distinct decades of design in Britain and America,  exploring the sweeping gestalt of the pop culture phenomenon. A narrative of postwar rock ‘n’ roll exuberance, “swinging sixties” rebellion, and seventies disillusionment unfolds through images spanning graphics (concert posters,  book and record jackets),  space-age furniture,  psychedelic textiles,  and zany fashion accessories in vinyl and paper. Pop! examines the fascinating and sometimes circular relationship between design and music,  noting that many musical luminaries of the sixties had studied graphics at British art schools; these included John Lennon, Ray Davies,  Eric Clapton and Donovan, an aficionado of mod fashion designer Mary Quant. Pop art is thus revealed to blur not only the boundaries of commerce, culture, and style, but also those of the aural and visual modes of expression.


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