Considered the Father of Pop, Hamilton worked across many fields: from painting to printmaking, sculpture to typography and collage. Perhaps his most famous work is Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, 1956 (see above), an icon of Pop Art before its parameters were even established.

 

“Hamilton's fascination with the authenticity of the image in contemporary society, and the implication this has in political and moral terms has held him at the vanguard of modern art.” Gagosian Gallery.

 

Hamilton was born in Pimlico, London, in 1922. In between undertaking National Service and being expelled from the Royal Academy, Hamilton managed to attend a variety of art schools, including St Martin’s and Slade School of Fine Art. He also taught at Central School of Art and Design and King’s College, University of Durham.

 

In the 1950s Hamilton began exhibiting at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) where he also met with Eduardo Paolozzi, as part of the Independent Group, and researched the work of Marcel Duchamp. He also devised the exhibitions ‘Growth and Form’ and ‘Man, Machine & Motion’ for the ICA. He collaborated on ‘This Is Tomorrow’, for which he produced the above seminal collage.

 

Throughout his career Hamilton exhibited internationally – the Tate, London, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, MACBA, Barcelona, and Museum Ludwig, Cologne organized major retrospective exhibitions of his work. A retrospective by Hamilton and Rita Donagh ‘Civil Rights etc.’ is currently on view at the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane until 15 January 2012. The exhibition includes works that primarily relate to Ireland, but also to significant moments of social change in recent history.

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