Joe Tilson, British Pop pioneer, dies at 95

Joe Tilson, a key player in British Pop art, has died. He was born in 1928 in Lewisham, Southeast London, where he first learned carpentry before studying at St Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art. One of his famous works, A-Z Box of Friends and Family from 1963, featured tiny pieces by artists like David Hockney, Eduardo Paolozzi, and Frank Auerbach. In a 1966 interview with ArtReview, he shared his interest in "the fleeting, disposable, mass-produced fantasy of large stores." By the 1970s, he became disillusioned with the consumerism of Pop art and turned to philosophy and ancient history. He taught at several institutions, including St Martin's and the Slade. In 2002, a retrospective called Joe Tilson: Pop to Present was held at the Royal Academy, and this year, Cristea Roberts Gallery and Marlborough Gallery honored his 95th birthday with another retrospective.