Temple 1964

Roy Lichtenstein made this 'Temple' out of black ink, sometime during his career. The limited palette here, black and white and then those iconic Lichtenstein dots, really puts the emphasis on form and process. What strikes me is the way Lichtenstein transforms a classical subject into something flat and graphic. Look at how the shadows are rendered, those bold black shapes against the stark white. There's no attempt to create depth, but it somehow emphasizes the architectural qualities of the temple, that sense of imposing geometry. Then there's the dot pattern. It’s so mechanical but by placing this pattern in the background, he flattens the image and makes it into a kind of printed object. It reminds me of Warhol, but with a different sensibility. They're both playing with pop imagery, but Lichtenstein has this unique way of referencing art history while simultaneously deconstructing it. It makes you question the way images are constructed and how we perceive them.