Our latest collection is perfect for summer - it’s bright, bold and will lift your mood. Kirin Young has created a unique series of luxury wall art in the Pop Art style - bringing colour and vibrancy in every image.
There are three different pop art styles within the collection of 24 new canvas prints, which means there’s something to suit every setting and any room.
What is pop art?
Pop art is a style that emerged in the 1950s, becoming huge in the 1960s in Britain and the US. It was a bold new direction where young artists turned to popular culture for inspiration, taking their ideas from Hollywood movies, advertising, product packaging, pop music and comic books.
Some of the most famous pop artists include Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, whose work has become iconic and is still much sought after today.
Pop Art is generally brightly coloured, high impact and visually appealing. Many pop artists of their time focused on connecting the traditions of fine art with the mass culture of TV, advertising, film, comics and cartoons.
They often blurred the boundaries between mediums and art techniques. They might blend painting with photography and printmaking, for example. This describes perfectly the approach that Kirin Young has taken with this collection - both blending traditional and modern and different artistic processes.
Abstract puzzle art
There are 12 wonderful puzzle art portraits in Kirin’s new range. In this game-changing collection, he brings together real Renaissance portraits and blends them with modern techniques to create something totally new.
In each puzzled portrait, the faces of the four subjects are so expertly blended it’s hard to tell where each person ends and the next begins. To add an extra level of intrigue, some of the ingredients into these abstract art puzzles include famous faces.
In Gentleman puzzled portrait blue gold jacket, for example, one of the subjects blended into a new piece of luxury art is none other than William Shakespeare. The original image is known as the Cobbe Portrait, and is said to be the only life painting of the iconic playwright.
And, in Gentleman puzzled portrait red gold jacket the red and gold jacket in its name belongs to the Battle of Waterloo hero, the Duke of Wellington.
There is even a touch of royalty in the collection. Lady Puzzled Portrait Red Purple Dress [add link] takes two images featuring the Winter Queen, Elizabeth Stuart of Bohemia, who was the daughter of King James I. One of the original portraits can be seen in the National Portrait Gallery’s display at Montacute House.
But even without the Renaissance references and famous portraits, this series of abstract art jigsaw puzzles make some fabulous multicolor wall art to brighten up your home.
Comic Strip Pop Art
Take a look at this series of eight Pop Portraits. They blend real, historic portraits from the 17th century with comic book features in true pop art style. In these canvas prints Kirin gives new character to the serious faces of Renaissance portraiture by adding in a strip of comic book characterisation.
In each modern pop art portrait we see a graceful lady or heroic gentleman, carefully posed in their most impressive costumes. But each face is disrupted by a strip of comic book art, giving them a completely new look.
The genius in this series is how the expression on each face is altered by their new comic book eyes. A serious classical portrait suddenly becomes flirty, sarcastic, knowing or even a little bit sly.
Again the facial features blend perfectly to create a completely believable new face. These works would look fantastic as part of a gallery wall, or as a standalone focal point for your space.
Graffiti Pop Art
When you look at Renaissance portraits, do you ever wish the subjects had more tattoos? Well, your dreams have just been realised! In this series of four graffiti pop art works, members of 17th century aristocracy have been given an edgy new look with body and face tattoos.
Not only that, but instead of posing in front of an oak-panelled wall or a marble fireplace, each subject is framed by acid house emblems and fluorescent graffiti.
What makes these graffiti pop art canvases so enthralling is the series of expressions on each face. Every portrait seems to be very pleased with their tribal ink and urban-chic backdrop.
Blending modern and contemporary art
Take a wander through our collection of designer wall art and you’ll notice that there is a strong leaning towards what we call Modernaissance. Blending the classical and modern is something that has always appealed to the Mineheart team.
We absolutely love the grandeur of the Old Masters’ portraits: the elegance, the outfits, the detail and the skill of the artists. But at the same time we love art that makes us smile - and giving these classic artworks a modern twist never fails to create something wonderful.
But it’s not just classical art that captivates us. We are also drawn to abstract art, surrealism and art that has a dreamlike quality. Art tastes can be so personal, and what appeals to one of us can leave others cold. It’s great to hear from our customers that there’s a good breadth of choice across our art collection that makes it possible to find something perfect for every home styling project.
We would love to hear what you think about Kirin’s Pop Art collection - get in touch on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to let us know!
About The Designer
Kirin Young is an artist, graphic designer and photographer based in Bangkok, Thailand. He was born and grew up in the UK and then moved to Thailand, originally to work as a model, before studying Multimedia design at Bangkok University.
He worked within TV and media for more than 15 years applying both digital and technical techniques. For more about Kirin, take a look at this interview: interview with graphic designer kirin young.
Kirin is not only the genius behind this fantastic series of Pop Art works, but he is also the creator of many of our wallpaper designs. Some of his most popular work includes our feather wallpaper collection and New World Damask design.
