Joan Kron, 98, Recalls Pioneering Pop Art Exhibitions

(MENAFN- USA Art News) At 98 years old, Joan Kron, a pivotal figure in the early Pop Art movement, is reflecting on her career, which includes commissioning Roy Lichtenstein's“Super Sunset Billboard” (1967). A remake of this iconic work is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of its major retrospective,“Roy Lichtenstein: Like New.” Kron's upcoming memoir, The Renegade Housewives of Pop Art, detailing her experiences with artists such as Andy Warhol, Christo, and Robert Rauschenberg, is set for release this December.

Kron's groundbreaking contributions began in 1962, when she and Audrey Sabol organized“Art '63: A New Vocabulary,” the first Pop Art exhibition on the East Coast, held at the Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association (YM/YWHA) in Philadelphia. This event, which featured emerging artists like Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg, predated the historic“The New Realists” show at the Sidney Janis Gallery by just days. Despite criticism from Philadelphia's conservative art community, Kron and Sabol achieved further“firsts,” including creating artist“multiples” with figures such as Robert Indiana and Marisol. They also hosted The Velvet Underground's initial concert in Philadelphia, an event that nearly led to Kron's dismissal from the Y, though it later became a celebrated part of the organization's history.

The concept of displaying art on billboards originated with Kron. She shared insights into the genesis of the Lichtenstein billboard during an interview with Hyperallergic.

Kron later established a distinguished career as a journalist for publications including New York Magazine, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, and served as a contributing editor at large for Allure. She is currently working on her second documentary film.

We previously reported:

A new documentary by Cheri Gaulke explores the pioneering feminist performance art and activist community that emerged from Los Angeles's historic Woman's

Source: Hyperallergic

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