Somewhere on one of the endless parallel Earths, Roy Lichtenstein painted
Yes, Lois! He released the piece to great fanfare (and puzzlement) in 1964, a few months after reading Action Comics #296, in which Superman exposes himself to Red Kryptonite so that he can communicate with the space ants who kidnapped Lois Lane. Considering the effects of Red K on Kryptonians are generally unpredictable, Superman was taking quite a risk here, but it paid off. It turns out the space ants were just misunderstood. Once again, Superman uses brains and compassion instead of brute force to resolve conflict. Way to go, Man of Steel! Oh, and nice homage, Roy.
1 comment:
I've seen a few Lichtenstein pieces in person. As devoted as Roy Lichtenstein was to pop art, he was fanatical about his technique. Pictures do not do his art justice. They are huge, for one thing, and painted with glossy acrylic. His lines are laser precise and the Ben-Day dots are absolutely regular. He would hand-paint them, but he also had special stencils.
Most of his work was on large-scale canvas, but I remember his later pieces being on sheet metal and painted with enamel, something like nail polish. He enjoyed the comic book aesthetic, but it's really something un-comic-book-like to see his work in person because they are so large. Very few comic panels would ever be this size, and it makes you feel like an ant looking up at them.
He is an influence of mine, but I don't have the courage to work that large. The biggest pieces I have ever made are modest poster-size.
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