A long time personal favourite from the Pop Art world, Roy Lichtenstein, is being celebrated with the first ‘full scale retrospective’ of his work at The Tate Modern, London. It brings together 125 of his works, celebrating this striking, often monumental work created by such a quiet and unassuming man.
Benday dots, stripes, flat colour palate and bold linear design all contribute to his rye and witty canvases and sculptures. His break from the tortured world of the Abstract Expressionists and the intellectual weight that movement carried cannot be under estimated. It reveals an artist who, when he found it, just knew the subject matter and style that truly spoke to him and had the steely determination to play and build upon it. He went on to remodel other famous artists work in his own style, as last seen in Cologne, October 2010.
I loved how he used the benday dots, in these Japanese paintings to echo the peace and tranquility of the original watercolours. Looking at this particular painting made me smile, as having just reflected on his personal break from the Abstract Expressionists, here he has encaged the sweeping, dynamic strokes typical of AE within his gently vanishing dots, and called it ‘Fog’.
This ultimate Pop Art exhibition is running from
Open until 20.00 on Sundays, with last ticket sale at 19.00.
There are a couple of videos I have lifted from the Tate’s site, seen here, that give a flavour of his work and his approaches.
See what we could do for you in the Lichtenstein style for your own personal piece of Pop Art.