Pop Art has captivated millions by the how a mass produced object can be perceived as art. How a simple soup can, like Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup, is professed art. Beauty surrounds us each day, but it is the Pop Art genre that presents beauty in the norm, to make it extraordinary.

The Society of Arts and Crafts of Boston, located at 175 Newbury Street, is holding a “Pop Craft” exhibit until October 22^nd. Here new artists emulate the Pop Art genre that boomed in the mid 1950’s through the 1960’s. What makes this exhibit unique is it not just paintings of massed produced objects, it is a combination of mix media: wood, paint, fiber, glass, metal, and ceramics, that creates art work sculptures to structure Pop Craft.

As soon as you enter the exhibit, Peter Morgan greets you with the adventures of the Tuna Can. Morgan has created an imaginary world through products people see each day. “”The work examines how much of what we know of the world is through illustrations and representation rather than from personal experience and the difference between ‘real’ versus simulated experiences,” Morgan said. Tuna Can is a Starkist can holding a ship traveling the high seas. Morgan takes the experience of illustration of the Starkist whale but instead of immediately thinking tuna, he lets imagination wander to what the whale might represent, like the ocean. Morgan allows the viewer to enter a child like mentality, imagining an item greater than its actual value.

The Pop Craft exhibit has many artworks that take the spectator to a higher level of imagery and imagination. Other pieces in the exhibit also show a sense of satire. Ianna Nova Frisby shows this satirical humor with her works of Botox and Rogaine. The Rogaine made a huge impact, with the phrase “Because she loves you just the way you were.” She shows popular items, mainly from this generation and gives a 50’s vintage look, with a pinch of irony. The speculation of the 50’s being a happier and more of a pleasant era is represented with her artwork depicting this generation. Now people can be pleasant with chemicals, such as Botox or Rogaine, because no one is naturally beautiful like the 50’s.

Frisby’s art also shows the twist of how an item that can help enhance beauty can in turn be considered art as well. Items such as, makeup, hair products, Botox, and Rogaine are all items that help enhance a person’s appearance. Yet the item itself is not considered a piece of art. Frisby brings this to her audience’s attention, but in the style of the 50’s and 60’s: the epoch when Pop Art first became popular.

One other piece at the exhibit that truly stuck out was Ken Derengowski’s Manufactured.Derengowski used 57 McDonald’s french-fry containers and transformed them each into diamond shapes. This piece I felt had many representations in today’s society. McDonald’s is one of the biggest fast food chains in the world, and many people value it as a great source of affordable meals. Another emblematic message I felt was being conveyed was the fact of the “Dollar Menu” McDonald’s has to offer. McDonald’s brought back the value of the dollar, another reason the french-fry containers are depicted as valued gems. In today’s society McDonald’s is considered a valued investment being a world wide and growing company, sometimes even more so than precious gems. Looking at Derengowski’s Manufactured, the viewer can’t help to laugh at its satirical and ironic meanings, as well as appreciate the time and effort it must have taken him.

This exhibit is not to be missed. Whether art intrigues you or not, this is a fun exhibit. The ironic and humorous pieces can be viewed by any age, giving the viewer the experience of combining knowledge he or she already knows with a new point of view. While viewing the exhibit, you come to realize more about your own culture and surroundings than you were aware of, which is the true art of the Pop Craft. The artworks are just simply enjoyable, if the viewer takes any knowledge with them from the exhibit or not, this event would still make a great day.