Nature
Pop Art
A catalog · Eleven sets of four · Adrian Melo
Pop art, by definition, when it came to be, was art of objects that were popular at the time, classically known through Andy Warhol, with colorful distortions of those popular images displayed in sets. This is why I made this catalog.
These are different pieces of nature that I’ve come across in recent years, focusing on the textures and colors that nature has around us. It showed me how to shift my focus from big mountain landscapes to specific frames within the landscape, to small wooden textures in the bark of a tree.
Everything is intentional, and every texture and color has its place. But I wanted to augment these colors to showcase one thing:
Nature is popular right now.
At least, it should be.
We’re coming across one of the major climate crises of our history, and we’re at a moment when we should be paying attention to nature and everything around us. Because if we’re not paying attention to nature, then what are we paying attention to? What are we distracted by?
When was the last time you went outside?
When was the last time you noticed a texture or a color out in the world?
When did you appreciate the magnificence of the minute details in the world around you?
That is the point of these pictures.
Telly Bark, detail — the same bark, two of its four treatments and the frame it was cut from, at full resolution
We’re surrounded by everyday objects and everyday things, but I know that today, the most important thing to make popular is nature. If nature is popular, then we care about it. And if we care about it, we protect it.
This is our home. The only one we have, for now. So we might as well take care of it.