Pop Life: Art in a Material World

Pop Art gets a radical re-sizing at Tate Modern with artists like be Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst re-examined. This exhibition, described as "the most cunning show imaginable", "a surefire winner" by The Guardian, takes the approach that these artists are all about the 'brand', using modern means of communication and commercialism to promote their trademark style. An interest in self-promotion and use of marketing strategies are aspects that all the artists, popular since the 1980s, have in common. The show takes Andy Warhol's often quoted statement that 'good business is the best art' as its starting point and begins with a focused look at Warhol's late work. Moving through works by Keith Haring and Jeff Koons we arrive at a gallery dedicated to the YBAs - Young British Artists - who found fame in the 1990s. Here Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas's shop in Bethnal Green, set up in 1993 and simply called The Shop, is recreated featuring T-shirts and ashtrays with Damien Hirst's picture stuck to the bottom. The exhibition, Pop Life: Art in a Material World, is sure to raise some eyebrows and just goes to show the controversy such flagrantly commercial art stirs up.