Artworks can be significantly influenced through the cultural, social and political levels at given time of creation. These persuading the art style of the piece or what is depicted in the artwork.

Wes Wilson an influential designer found great fame and recognition through his series of psychedelic rock concert posters. A time when this art form was a phenomenon, the mid 60’s. A social and cultural identity that Wes Wislon had reflected in his psychedelic art style. The 60’s was a prolific time of what is referred to as the “hippy” style, anarchistic and revolutionary. A culture that was daring in trying new things such as drugs. The assassination of JFK shocked a nation, The 60’s saw one of the worlds most influential speeches today “I have a Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr in 1963 a push towards civil rights against racial discrimination, The struggle and major setbacks of civil rights was overcome as in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was formed abolishing discrimination against race, colour, sex, religion or nation origin. A culture that blossomed of sex, love and rock and roll, a way in which the public used to overcome the stress of politics in America. A relaxed nature that seemed to be careless, a culture full of creativity and imagination trying to run away from the raw memory of war (Vietnam War)

The work by Wes Wilson is a reflection/ response to this cultural, social and political level at the time. His most recognised form of work being the psychedelic poster art. Posters were a huge hit in the 60’s, they were almost everywhere, a time of social unrest but through this some of the best art seen to date was seen through the ability to express through poster art, Wes Wilson. Expressing the emergent of pop art and psychedelia phenomenon that was first seen in the mid 60’s and expressed in Wes Wilsons artwork. Wes Wilson also took on a political aspect in his art of the 60’s. Most recognised in this artwork (attached); as stated before       the 60’s was a time when there were political backlash over the Vietnam War and the fear of what happened in World War 2 still fresh in the timeline of history. Western Culture was sick of war and looking for peace and equality at this time. This artwork by Wes Wilson posed the question to America, his home, “Are We Next ?”. Could America potentially be on its way to becoming its own rival?. A call Wilson was calling for settlement and peace around the ideas of war and dictatorship in America.

Andy Warhol, a man who too like Wes Wilson was part of an artistic movement. Andy Warhol was part of the pop movement, fame which grew greatly on his work due to his exploration of popular culture through his work. Andy Warhol was an artist that too flourished during the creative boom of the 1960’s  Through working with brands like Coca Cola and during his success the company Campbell’s Soup. Warhol’s work contained uses of bright colour work and silk screening techniques. He would duplicate and transform artworks that were based on celebrity photographs, his most famous work of Marilyn Monroe’s photograph portrait. The art in which Andy created he envisioned as a product, like food or clothing, this created an expression between art, advertising and celebrity cultur

e.  This mean’t that he had his very own creative style of work. During the time of Andy Warhol the civil rights movement for equality across race, religion, sex and nation of origin etc was strongly being pushed. Andy Warhol used this time to express the discrimination and realisation of how black African American people were treated; example in his newspaper photograph of police dogs attacking African-American protestors during the Birmingham campaign for a civil rights movement. This confrontational photograph that Andy Warhol put in leading newspapers was his personal pitch to change the way the white culture of the 1960’s treated individuals, trying to abolish discrimination for himself and his family were heavily religious practicing Byzantine-Slavic Catholicism but he k

ept this under-wraps form the public. A pitch that only he who was on a high status platform that he created for himself would be able to speak out to society through his work. Through Warhol’s artistic expression for brands and his view that art is a product his was slandered by critics claiming that he was “capitulating” to consumerism due to his open minded embrace to the market culture. This definitely did not stop Mr Warhol’s artistic endeavours.

Artworks can be significantly influenced through the cultural, social and political levels at given time of creation. These persuading the art style of the piece or what is depicted in the artwork. Art is a platform like no other that can be manipulated and keep audiences question what the true meaning is. This is what artists use to express their meanings to an audiences and really make them thing about the artwork.