Roy
Lichtenstein artwork was a giant shift away from Abstract Expression. You can
see very little of his feelings in art. You mostly see him recreating the
culture. Abstract art has more of an influence by using their feelings and
emotions into their work. Lichtenstein would use the mechanical reproduction,
the use of the Ben-day dots; at times the dots would be highly exaggerated. They
are small colored dots that are equal in size and evenly spaced. They are used
to increase shading and contrast. Another characteristic of his works are the
use of the thick black lines. The use of the thick lines helps give his
painting the comic book feel because they look more as if they were drawn.
“I’m
never drawing the object itself; I’m only drawing a depiction of the object – a
kind of crystallized symbol of it.” This was a quote from Roy Lichtenstein
himself. (theartstory.org) It really explains how he is recreating the culture
around him. As you look at the image of the “Drowning Girl” you can see the
waves around her crushing against her. It makes me think that she has fallen or
jumped off the boat and as she says “I don’t care- I’d rather sink than call
Brad for help” makes me think she is talking to Brad on the boat. This painting
is showing the drama in the culture and how this situation is humorous because
the girl is choosing death out of feelings of spite. (artz.org)
Roy
Lichtenstein work is really moving away from the abstract expressionism I think
that is why I like his style of pop art. I like the he takes the comic style of
art and makes them larger and keeps them dramatic. I think that his use of
bright colors was a big part of the 60’s and I like that he shows off that era
in his work. Also the characteristic that he adds speech bubbles adds to the
drama of the paintings and it allows the viewer to understand what it is going
on in the paintings. His works are widely known and became very popular.
http://www.artsz.org/lichtenstein-pop-art-drowning-girl/
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lichtenstein-roy.htm
http://www.artsz.org/lichtenstein-pop-art-drowning-girl/
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lichtenstein-roy.htm
I've noticed that Lichtenstein is popular with students in this class! I think it's interesting that everyone is picking the comic prints by Lichtenstein. Did you know he did sculpture, too?
ReplyDeleteI like that you highlighted that Lichtenstein added text to his art. This text helps to emphasize the "flatness" of his art (and, of course, text is used in comics). This idea of combining text with image has roots back in some of the Synthetic Cubist collages by Picasso and Braque.
-Prof. Bowen
I like that the subject matter of these works are both of women getting out of relationships with men. This one can only escape by death but the one in the textbook only needs a phone call. It makes me wonder how many women broke up with the artist, each one a different brand of drama. These works are intriguing since they make us want to know the story leading up to that one dramatic moment and what happened afterward. Modern art often makes us use our own minds and imaginations doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI also like Andy Warhol too
ReplyDeleteI love to read comic books and some how I was not interested in Roy's art, I dont know why. Maybe its because I feel that the piece isnt finished, what I mean by that is that when I see a comic panel I expect to read the panels before and after to read the story, so not being able to continue the story leaves me unsatisfied.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that this artist crated single pieces of a comic strip to demonstrate contemporary culture. I don't necessarily enjoy this kind of artwork; it is too simplified for me. However, I do like the fact that we are only seeing one section of a larger story, forcing us to create the rest of the picture.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm not a huge fan of comic book style artwork, I do really like the flat areas of color, and the flat text that has been added. I think that this piece is really interesting, and the fact that it is just one piece of a whole story allows the viewer to create the rest of the story themselves.
ReplyDeleteLichtenstein's work is very unique. It is no exaggeration that his work moves away from abstract expressionism. I enjoy the comic feel that he incorporates through the use of thick lines and ben-day dots. I wonder what affect his paintings would have without the thought bubbles...
ReplyDelete