Lesson 11:

APPROPRIATION IN
ART
What is Appropriation Art?
Copying art to convey a
new message.
by Beth Gersh-Nesic
 To "appropriate" is to take possession of
something. Appropriation artist deliberately copy
image to take possession of them in their art.
They are not stealing or plagiarizing, nor they are
passing off these images as their very own.

Yet, this artistic approach does stir up

controversy because some people view
appropriation as unoriginal or theft. Due to this,
it's important to understand why artist
appropriate the artwork of others.
What's the Intent of Appropriation
Art?
 Appropriation artists want the viewer to recognize
the image they copy.They hope that the viewer will
bring all of his original associations with the image to
the artist's new context, be it a painting, a sculpture,
a collage, a combine or an entire installation.

The deliberate "borrowing" of an image for this

new context is called "recontextualization".
Recontextualization helps the artist comment on
the image's original meaning and the viewer's
association with either the original image or the
real thing.
An Iconic Example of Appropriation
Let's consider Andy Warhol's "Campbell Soup
Can" series (1961). It is probably one of the
best known examples of appropriation art.

The image of Campbell soup can are clearly

appropriated. He copied the original labels
exactly but filled up the entire picture plane
with their iconic appearance. Unlike other
garden- variety still life's, these works look
like portraits of a soup can.
 The brand is the image identity.
Warhol isolated the image of these
products to stimulate product
recognitions (as is done in
advertising) and stir up associations
with the idea of Campbell's soup.
He wanted you to think of that
"Mmm Mmm good" feeling.
 At the same time, he also tapped into a whole
bunch of other association, such as consumerism ,
commercialism, big business, fast food, middle-
class values and food representing love. As an
appropriated image , these specific soup labels
could resonate with meaning (like a stone tossed
into a pond) and so much more.

Warhol's use of popular imagery became part of the

pop art movement. All appropriation art is not pop art
though.
“Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot), Andy
Warhol, 1962
Whose Photograph Is
It?
 Sherry Levine's "after Walker Evan"
(1981) is a photograph of famous
Depression-era photograph. The
original was taken by Walker Evans in
1936 and titled "Alabama Tenant
Farmer Wife". In her piece Levine
photographed a reproduction of Evans
work. She did not use the original
negative or print to create her silver
 Levine is challenging the concept of
ownership; if she photographed the
photograph, whose photograph
was it, really? It is common question
that has been raised in photography
for years and Levine is bringing this
debate to the forefront.
This is something that she and fellow artists Cindy
Sherman and Richard Price studied in 1970s and
80s. The group become known as the "Pictures"
generation and their goal was to examine the
effect of mass media-advertisement , films and
photography on the public.

In addition, Levine is a feminist artist. In work like

"After Walker Evans "she was also addressing the
predominance of male artists in the textbook
version of art history.
More Examples Of
Appropriation Art
 Kathleen Gilje appropriate masterpieces in
order to comment on the original content and
propose another. In "Bacchus Restored"
(1992), she appropriated Caravaggio's
"Bacchus" (ca. 1595) and added open
condoms to the festive offerings of wine and
fruit on the table. Painted when Aids has taken
the lives of so many artists, the artist was
commenting on unprotected sex as the new
forbidden fruit.
Image 1: Caravaggio's "Bacchus" (1595) / Image 2: Kathleen Gilje's "Bacchus"
Restored (1992)
Other well-known appropriation artist's are Richard Price,
Jeff Koons Louise Lawler, Gerhard Richter, Yasumasa
Morimura, and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Jeff Koons "String of Puppies" appropriated from Art Rogers "Puppies "