Whaam! Crash!

When you enter the Tate Liverpool’s Artists Rooms be prepared to be knocked out . . . by the vivid colours and imagery of legendary pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein.

Prolific New Yorker Lichtenstein, who died 20 years ago at the age of 74, was ahead of his time. His work is as relevant now as it was when he created it.

His stunning artwork was inspired by comic books and advertising promotions in the United States in the 60s.

There are 20 of his creations including a film bank of his work in this imaginative free exhibition which is here until next June.

When you see these iconic pieces close-up you cannot fail to be impressed at the meticulous detail and lengths that he went to in achieving his artistic aims which captured the changing cultural and political 60s of America.

The words ‘Whaam!’ and ‘Crash’ on the Tate walls command, in fact demand your attention.

They are reminiscent of the Batman graphics in the cult 60s TV series.

Pop Art exploded in that decade and Lichtenstein alongside Andy Warhol responded to what was going on around them with wit and originality.

The billboards promoting Hollywood glamour and the best-selling comic war and romance books were ready made inspiration.

One of his most famous major works In the Car shows a blonde in a leopard-skin coat with a macho man next to her in a sharp blue suit.

We are invited by the artist to look through the car window at them. There is astonishing movement in this piece as there is in the DC Comic inspired Whaam! From 1963.

Lichtenstein loved to use clichéd images from comic strips and advertising imagery in his own interpretations of commercialism and the comic books that he relished in his painstakingly put-together parodies.

He mimicked the same Ben-Day dots technique used in commercial newsprint.

Also on show in this exhibition is Lichtenstein’s only foray into film with Three Landscapes from 1970 -71 which is displayed for only the second time in Europe.

Lichtenstein experimented with different media throughout his career using synthetic materials with glossy or mirrored surfaces as shown in Wall Explosion 11 and Reflections on Girl 1990 show his The Tate is clearly excited with this latest exhibition and put on a ‘pop up party’ to celebrate the opening.

Roy Lichtenstein who helped change the history of modern art would have loved that and no doubt have turned up with his sketch pad creating some tongue- in-cheek yet striking pop up art.

FREE: Lichtenstein in Focus at the Tate, Liverpool - until June 17, 2018.