Swingeing London 67

A pioneer of the Pop art movement, British painter and printmaker Richard Hamilton once compiled a checklist of Pop attributes: Popular (designed for a mass audience); Transient (short-term solution); Expendable (easily forgotten); Low cost; Mass-produced; Young (aimed at youth); Witty; Sexy; Gimmicky; Glamorous; Big business. Indeed, many of these attributes are evident in this counter-culture homage to the Rolling Stones; a visual compendium of reproduced newspaper accounts which chronicle the band's activities in the heyday of the 1960s. In addition to the references of contemporaneous events, the composition may also be read as a two-dimensional design created through the process of assemblage. Hamilton essentially paints the surface with various clippings on the famous rock band, creating a visually arresting blend of popular culture and fine art.