POP Goes the Art
04/02/2025 12:28PM ● By Sophie Dingle
"Steady Sunward," Attila Feszt, acrylic on canvas, 30"x40," 2024.
Pop art is for everyone. So said Andy Warhol, himself one of the original pop artists. It’s a style that emerged in the 1950s and thrived in the 1960s; now it has arrived in the West with a flourish of brightly colored prints depicting traditional Western elements – think: horses, cowboys and hats.
The pop art movement was initially defined by its challenge of fine art when artists – Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, to name a few – began using pop culture and everyday objects in comic book-style prints.
In Steamboat Springs, artist Attila Feszt, who moved from the Bahamas in 2022, was also drawn to that style. With a background in screen printing and graphic design, he found a way to make his work stand out from the traditional watercolor-laden art shows in Abaco.
"My background and interest in comic book illustration definitely informed my work,” Attila says. “I wanted to do something that stood out against all of the watercolor landscapes.” Now, in the gallery, he gestures to his work which features a turquoise moose. “People pay more attention when they see something different,” he says. “Rather than thinking, ‘oh that’s a moose’ and moving on, they stop and really look.”
And what do they want to see? The Wild West, in all its glory. “I think that the world has always been fascinated with the West and Western folklore,” explains Patie Schoonover, who owns Schoonover Gallery Fine Art in downtown Steamboat. The gallery is filled with current, contemporary artists but she points to Mark Andrew Allen as a true pop artist, creating pieces in a graphic design-print style. Originally from Texas, Mark notes that his Western pop series is “a look at the world of contemporary cowboys and cowgals and how they are still quite relevant today.”
Now more relevant than ever, Patie says, as a younger generation starts collecting art. “I think there’s been a huge surge in interest as the younger generation becomes art collectors,” she says. “Because so many of the artists have brought the Old West time period into a modern feel. That really attracted a lot of younger collectors.”
Ryan Scheer, owner of The Westerly (also downtown) has this take on the ever-growing medium: “Western is in right now. We’re so locked in on screens and tech that I think we’re starting to romanticize days before that. And the West is pretty sexy when it comes to that.”
The Westerly represents a handful of Western pop artists, including Kym Day and Brandon Owen. And Ryan, a pop artist in his own right, cites his inspiration as his childhood: skate culture, catchy advertisements (remember the Got Milk ads of the ’90s?) and hip hop. “My theory on it is that we’re seeing a new generation pop up in Western art, and with that generation we’re getting an homage to what inspired us,” Ryan says. “We’re going back to our childhood. Art in a sense is nostalgia.”
Ryan uses photography techniques from the 1800s to produce Western-themed dioramas. When he started adding color to them – creating more of a pop art feel – he thought that he would attract a younger audience. But no – his first piece in the series sold to a retired couple in their 60s. It turns out thatAndy Warhol was right: pop art really is for everyone.
Pop art is for everyone. So said Andy Warhol, himself one of the original pop artists. It’s a style that emerged in the 1950s and thrived in the 1960s; now it has arrived in the West with a flourish of brightly colored prints depicting traditional Western elements – think: horses, cowboys and hats.
The pop art movement was initially defined by its challenge of fine art when artists – Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, to name a few – began using pop culture and everyday objects in comic book-style prints.
In Steamboat Springs, artist Attila Feszt, who moved from the Bahamas in 2022, was also drawn to that style. With a background in screen printing and graphic design, he found a way to make his work stand out from the traditional watercolor-laden art shows in Abaco.
"My background and interest in comic book illustration definitely informed my work,” Attila says. “I wanted to do something that stood out against all of the watercolor landscapes.” Now, in the gallery, he gestures to his work which features a turquoise moose. “People pay more attention when they see something different,” he says. “Rather than thinking, ‘oh that’s a moose’ and moving on, they stop and really look.”
And what do they want to see? The Wild West, in all its glory. “I think that the world has always been fascinated with the West and Western folklore,” explains Patie Schoonover, who owns Schoonover Gallery Fine Art in downtown Steamboat. The gallery is filled with current, contemporary artists but she points to Mark Andrew Allen as a true pop artist, creating pieces in a graphic design-print style. Originally from Texas, Mark notes that his Western pop series is “a look at the world of contemporary cowboys and cowgals and how they are still quite relevant today.”
Now more relevant than ever, Patie says, as a younger generation starts collecting art. “I think there’s been a huge surge in interest as the younger generation becomes art collectors,” she says. “Because so many of the artists have brought the Old West time period into a modern feel. That really attracted a lot of younger collectors.”
Ryan Scheer, owner of The Westerly (also downtown) has this take on the ever-growing medium: “Western is in right now. We’re so locked in on screens and tech that I think we’re starting to romanticize days before that. And the West is pretty sexy when it comes to that.”
The Westerly represents a handful of Western pop artists, including Kym Day and Brandon Owen. And Ryan, a pop artist in his own right, cites his inspiration as his childhood: skate culture, catchy advertisements (remember the Got Milk ads of the ’90s?) and hip hop. “My theory on it is that we’re seeing a new generation pop up in Western art, and with that generation we’re getting an homage to what inspired us,” Ryan says. “We’re going back to our childhood. Art in a sense is nostalgia.”
Ryan uses photography techniques from the 1800s to produce Western-themed dioramas. When he started adding color to them – creating more of a pop art feel – he thought that he would attract a younger audience. But no – his first piece in the series sold to a retired couple in their 60s. It turns out thatAndy Warhol was right: pop art really is for everyone.