Pop art show marries classics to western art at the James Museum

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Western Art is in the name. And in Americana, nothing says Western like Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. So, when a showing of some special pieces by Pop artist Ben Steele was available, the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art jumped at the chance to show his work.

What they're saying:

The artist based in Utah marries iconic western images with the pop art styles of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. But Ben Steele doesn’t just limit his work to pop artists, any classical artist is fair game as well.

"Ben Steele is somewhat of a chameleon in his style," shared Emily Kapes, "He takes familiar objects or images from pop culture or even famous works from art history, and he mashes them up in really clever ways."

Kapes is the curator of Art at the James Museum and spoke about the special exhibit and all the different nods to the original artists in each piece.

Fans of Michelangelo will recognize the David sculpture in the painting, Michelang-a-Doh. Ben Steele painted the image of the statute of David in the colors of Play-doh.

In the piece, Western Sauce, actor Clint Eastwood is featured in his outfit from "Fistful of Dollars," but instead of the cowboy staring down bad guys, he’s staring off of a can titled Spaghetti Western Sauce.

"The details in some of the works are just spectacular," said Kapes, "It really brings realism to this piece."

There’s a drawing of John Wayne on an etch-a-sketch that connects a viewer to their childhood, but the image is impressively done with the photograph posed next to it for reference.

"It’s always fun to connect with the art in that way," admitted Kapes.

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What's next:

The artist will be visiting the James Museum in January for a special talk about his work.

To learn more about the exhibit and Ben Steele’s visit to the museum, click here.