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  • Dutch modernist Verner Panton’s Heart Cone Chair from 1959

    Dutch modernist Verner Panton’s Heart Cone Chair from 1959

  • A toy robot (by Anonymous) made in Japan in 1965

    A toy robot (by Anonymous) made in Japan in 1965

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The Pop Art movement, born as early as 1945, captured America’s fancy in the 1960s and has never stopped.

Now-familiar artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein elevated everyday items like soup cans and comic strips into bold art. At the same time, designers of everyday items found inspiration in Pop Art’s bright and colorful style.

The Orange County Museum of Art explores the confluence of the forms in an international exhibition, “Pop Art Design,” running January 7-April 2.

Familiar works by Warhol and Lichtenstein are among the 150 objects and works of art that make up the exhibit, billed as the first comprehensive exhibition examining the marriage of Pop Art and design. Among the other featured artists and designers are Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson.

Two examples of futurist pop design include a toy robot (by Anonymous) made in Japan in 1965, and Dutch modernist Verner Panton’s Heart Cone Chair from 1959, which is both forward-looking and seen perhaps as a humorous homage to 18th-century wingback chairs.

OCMA is the only West Coast stop for “Pop Art Design,” organized by Germany’s Vitra Design Museum.

“Pop Art Design,” January 7-April 2,  Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach, 949.759.1122 :: ocma.net