Yellow brushstroke I 1965

Curator: Gosh, it’s so bold, almost cartoonish, isn’t it? It strikes me immediately as being full of nervous energy. Editor: That's a fantastic starting point. We're looking at Roy Lichtenstein’s "Yellow Brushstroke I," made in 1965. Lichtenstein, a pivotal figure in the Pop Art movement, here works with acrylic on canvas to deconstruct the Abstract Expressionist brushstroke. Curator: Deconstruct is such a perfect word for it! I feel like he’s playing with the seriousness of Abstract Expressionism. Like, "Look at me, I’m a brushstroke, but also a massive joke." That vibrant yellow, the almost aggressive black outlines... It feels mischievous. Editor: Exactly. The yellow, of course, reads as exuberance, the joy of creation, but coupled with that stylized dripping… Aren't those drips almost tears? It could be seen to mirror both joy and existential themes coexisting, if one wishes. Curator: Absolutely, this piece feels less like celebration, more like he’s commenting on it, on the very act of creating. It feels coolly detached, but in the best way. Editor: It’s the Benday dots in the background, isn't it, the printing technique that throws a curve ball. It distances us. By referencing commercial printing, Lichtenstein challenges the preciousness of "high art," like the heroic gesture of the painterly brushstroke that came before it. It’s high impact and yet highly ironic at the same time. Curator: Definitely, by turning the expressive brushstroke into a graphic, almost mass-produced image, it seems Lichtenstein really questioned authenticity itself, artistic authenticity. So where does that leave us then? Are we allowed to still swoon over it? I think we are, the nerve of the piece feels fresh, it’s a knowing wink at the viewer that I personally can't help responding to. Editor: It still grabs our attention. It may do so differently across decades but yes, I fully concur. It really speaks to how art recontextualizes symbols. Even something as primal as a painted stroke on canvas gets a new, perhaps unexpected, culturally defined life.