An upcoming art exhibit has allowed middle school students to study 20 century pop art first-hand.

The Bermuda National Gallery has worked with the Green family, who own the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, to create What’s Poppin’! Pop Art and Its Influence, set to officially open to the public tonight.

The exhibit will showcase works from the pop art movement, which incorporates motifs from popular culture, and explore artists such as Andy Warhol and Banksy.

Peter Lapsley, the director of BNG, said: “We’ve related it to school curriculum, so students have an opportunity to see things and have a lived experience with the artwork versus just seeing it in a book.”

He added: “A lot of what we look out nowadays in terms of popular culture have references back to pop art, so I think it’s good for people to be aware of the origins of these things.”

The works of art will touch on themes of freedom of expression and the relationship between art and commerce.

The artists of the movement intended to combine art and culture in order to offer ironic commentary on the two.

Particular works will include Campbell’s Soup screen-prints of Andy Warhol and the Very Little Helps painting by Banksy, which features a group of children saluting a Tesco shopping bag atop a flagpole.

Mr Lapsley said: “To have iterations of these iconic art works on display and able to be experienced in person is really exciting.”

The exhibit will be open to the public until September.

It will mark the second collaboration between BNG and the Green family following the Shepard Fairey: rebel without a cause exhibit in last year.