Dawn of the Dead 

Ben Frost created this mixed media on canvas piece, "Dawn of the Dead," sometime after 1975. Frost, an Australian artist, is known for subverting familiar imagery from pop culture and advertising. In this work, we see an overwhelming accumulation of cultural references: cartoon characters, fast food icons, horror movie figures, and advertising slogans, all mashed together in a chaotic composition. The artist appropriates and distorts these images, transforming them into something unsettling. This challenges the viewer to confront the dark underbelly of consumer culture and the media saturation of modern life. Frost's piece can be seen as a critique of the institutions that perpetuate these images. His art forces us to question the social conditions that allow these images to dominate our cultural landscape. To better understand the cultural references in this artwork, we can research the history of advertising, the evolution of cartoon characters, and the rise of fast-food chains.