Caveman 

This print, "Caveman" by Ben Frost, uses screenprinting to bring together the aesthetics of pop art and the critical edge of social commentary. The Australian artist is known for appropriating and juxtaposing familiar images from commercial packaging and pop culture. Here, Frost combines the cartoon character, Captain Caveman, with the branding of Viagra, the pharmaceutical drug. In doing so, he seems to be playfully critiquing contemporary consumer culture. Frost ironically contrasts the manufactured virility promised by the drug with an archaic symbol of masculinity. To understand Frost’s artwork more fully, we can look to resources that cover contemporary art and visual culture. Critical analyses of consumerism and media studies will help reveal how his art engages with the social structures of our time. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.