This subject covers the political, social and cultural history of the USA c.1940s-1980s through an exploration of the visual art and popular culture created in America in those decades. Focussing particularly on the work of Andy Warhol, we explore the intersection of art, politics and popular culture in the period of the Cold War, the consumerism and prosperity of the 1950s-60s, the emergence of civil rights and identity politics, and themes of glamour, celebrity and violence. It is both a history of the America which gave birth to Pop Art and rock and roll, and also a history of their significance in helping to define the modern United States. We ask who were the key figures in this period and how did the artists' vision capture their times?

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