ESPRESSO MACCHIATO AND THE CRITIQUE OF LATE CAPITALISM: POST-IRONY, CONSUMERISM, AND THE LEGACY OF WARHOL

Introduction In contemporary cultural critique, the intersection of consumerism, artistic production, and neoliberal identity formation has become a central theme. Artists such as Tommy Cash, drawing from the legacy of Andy Warhol, employ post-irony and hyperbolic consumerist aesthetics to challenge the ideological underpinnings of late capitalism. This essay explores the performance of Tommy Cash in the context of Warhol’s pop art, the Frankfurt School’s critique of cultural commodification, and postmodern perspectives on authenticity, ideology, and spectacle. By referencing critical theorists such as Fredric Jameson, Walter Benjamin, Giorgio Agamben, Jean Baudrillard, and Slavoj Žižek, this analysis interrogates how contemporary artistic practices reflect, critique, and sometimes reinforce the logic of consumer capitalism.