MUMBAI: Pop Art, an art movement that emerged in Britain in the mid 1950s, will be infused into BBC Four’s programming through a week-long special programming on Pop Art, in August. The programming will focus on the influence of the art movement. Britain’s leading pop artists – Peter Blake, Derek Boshier and Peter Phillips, have been commissioned by BBC, to take ‘BBC Four goes Pop’ plans to different level.
Special programmes will be aired on BBC Four, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and BBC 6 Music.
BBC 6 Music will have curated music and programming, with Blake presenting a programme on the life and career of English rock and roll singer-songwriter Ian Dury. Blake taught Dury at Walthamstow Art College, and will be playing tracks by him in this hour-long special ‘Peter Blake: Ian And Me’ on Sunday from 1 to 2 pm.
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Commenting on the Pop-Art programming, Blake said, “Pop Art was about trying to make an art that would be read in the same way as you would listen to music. Ian and I had a rapport, in that we both loved rock ‘n’ roll, but he was a rebel.”
Adding to 6 Music is a show by Lauren Laverne that will look at the contribution of women like Nico and Debbie Harry in Pop Art. It will be broadcast from 10 am to 1 pm from Monday to Friday. On Sunday from 6 to 8 pm, Tom Robinson will be curating the Pop Art-theme music suggestions of listeners. In the Freakzone special, Stuart Maconie will be taking listeners through the Pop Art movement on Sunday from 8 pm until 10 pm. Additionally, selections made for The Album of the Day will be related to the Pop Art movement. Apart from new content, there will be related music and documentary programmes from the BBC Archive broadcast in the overnight slots for that week.
Lauren Laverne said, “The Pop Art movement was so ground-breaking and influential it went beyond art into the music, design and film of the time. In my 6 Music show I’ll be looking at the women of Pop Art, icons such as Debbie Harry and Nico, so expect a palate of brilliant tunes, special guests and enlightening discussion as my listeners and I explore this creative powerhouse.”
BBC Radio 4 will broadcast Sarah Wooley’s play – Fifteen Minutes, which talks about the last days of Pop Art and how things moved to Modern Art from Pop Art. It will also include information on Andy Warhol and Truman Capote and on celebrity culture. The play explores Capote and Warhols’ relationship, Capote’s decline and Warhol’s resurgence, ending with Warhol at a celebrity birthday party.
Radio 3 will air archive programme, Andy Warhol’s Factory Friends, which will be presented by Paul Morley. The cultural radio station will also collaborate with BBC Arts online for a Pop-Art archive.
Meanwhile, programmes on BBC Four include a documentary presented by writer and art critic Alastair Sooke.
