Yesterday I went to the Art Institute and saw the new Roy Lichtenstein exhibition. I really didn't think I would like it very much. I am not a big fan of Pop Art and I always thought that Lichtenstein was kind of a one note tune. I think I may have to eat my words....
While, yes, Roy Lichtenstein stayed very much in the same style of painting for most of his career, this exhibition truly knocked my socks off. A lot of what I had seen of his was this comic books like paintings of women in distress, but his sculptures, his mirror paintings and his architectural paintings were absolutely incredible!
Regarding his sculptures, it is a simple thing to make a flat image look "flat". It's a whole other deal to make a 3-dimensional object appear flat.
My absolute favorite works out of this exhibition were his mirror paintings. Walking up to a mirror, you expect yourself to fill the object; when nothing appears, when nothing reflects, you reexamine how you approach certain familiar objects. When I am no longer the focus within the object, how does that make me feel about something where I am no longer the subject?
