Nasa-commissioned print uncovered for Bradford pop art exhibition

A print linked to Nasa

The work was produced as part of a Nasa project documenting efforts to send the first humans to the moon. Although it was a screen print, curator Jill Iredale said it came from an early computer-generated image.

The print is included in Pop Art at Cartwright Hall, alongside works by Andy Warhol and David Hockney. Iredale said the exhibition features material unfamiliar to some visitors.

A prize in Bradford

At its peak, the event featured more than 500 works chosen from over 3,000 entries. Hockney served as a judge at the first biennial and designed its poster, which is also on display.

From orbit to the moon

John H. Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on 20 February 1962. In the decade that followed, Nasa’s Mercury programme led to the Apollo missions. Neil Armstrong eventually set foot on the moon in 1969. The print’s Nasa connection places it within that period of rapid space exploration.

Bradford’s artistic character

Iredale described Bradford’s art scene as experimental, with a do-it-yourself quality among artists and at the college. The exhibition brings that local creative history together with internationally known pop art.