Beyond Pop: Art of the Everyday

This December, as Art Basel returns to Miami Beach, the UBS Lounge and UBS Art Studio will feature vibrant presentations around the theme of Beyond Pop: Art of the Everyday.

The displays will highlight works in the UBS Art Collection by artists – representing different generations, geographies and art movements – who find inspiration in quotidian objects and materials, bridging the gap between fine art and popular culture. While traditional art often draws from figures, history or landscapes, these artists explore commonplace or commercial items, infusing new meaning into their chosen mediums and materials. They elevate these objects for different purposes – to evoke nostalgia or familiarity, reflect personal and collective identities or examine consumerism through mass produced imagery, transforming the ordinary into impactful works of art.

Central to both presentations will be the work of Katherine Bernhardt, an American artist based in St. Louis, Missouri, whose colorful practice captures the essence of her personal experiences and the cultural environment.

The UBS Lounge at Art Basel Miami Beach will spotlight a new commissioned painting by Bernhardt encompassing a range of her characteristic irreverent motifs from the American pop vernacular. The monumental work, Superstorm (2025), will occupy an entire wall of the UBS Lounge and integrates a variety of visual elements, with the Pink Panther taking the leading role. The artist’s fascination with the Pink Panther was inspired by a trip to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. While immersed in the pink-themed environment, which included pink sheets, towels and even pancakes, she and her son watched reruns of The Pink Panther Show. This animated series, which was broadcast on Saturday mornings from 1969 until 1978, starred the iconic character known for his mischievous antics and cool demeanor.

In Superstorm, Bernhardt pays tribute to the protagonist’s lasting charm while incorporating her own singular visual lexicon and style. Inspired by wide-ranging influences such as the tropical climate of Puerto Rico, Moroccan rugs and West African Dutch wax textiles, the artist creates a colorful composition of an assortment of everyday objects, from sticks of butter and a jug of tide detergent to tropical fruits and swimming sharks. Through this work, Bernhardt confronts us with a climate sensitive interpretation of a beachy scene: the reclining Pink Panther is surrounded by incongruous items which appear to be caught in a superstorm, hinting at environmental concerns from catastrophic natural events to pollution in the ocean.

Bernhardt’s painting will be exhibited alongside the work of pop-culture inspired masters in the UBS Art Collection, including Wayne Thiebaud, Ed Ruscha, Claes Oldenburg and Michael Craig-Martin – artists who, like Bernhardt, reimagine the familiar with wit and color.

Echoing the presentation in the UBS Lounge, the UBS Art Studio will offer a public display that invites visitors to see the everyday through a new lens. A selection of works from the UBS Art Collection will showcase artists who turn the most commonplace of objects into icons of contemporary culture. Here too, Bernhardt’s sense of joy and play will spill into the space, as a vibrant painting, unique screenprint and whimsical beanbags take center stage, capturing the spirit of the everyday with unmistakable flair.

Join us at Art Basel Miami Beach and follow in the footsteps of Katherine Bernhardt and fellow pop-inspired artists – drop-in to our printmaking workshop at the UBS Art Studio, grab an object, pick a bold hue and reimagine the ordinary into your own playful print.