Pour Les Levres 1965

Editor: Here we have Allen Jones’ “Pour Les Levres,” created in 1965, using print and collage techniques. It’s...striking! The bright colors and disjointed images give off a rather unsettling vibe, despite the Pop Art style. What’s your interpretation of it? Curator: This piece truly encapsulates Pop Art's engagement with the commodification of the female form. Notice how Jones uses bold, flat colors, common in mass-produced imagery, mimicking advertising techniques. The collage element, juxtaposing disparate images like the corset and cigarette, disrupts any sense of a coherent narrative, drawing attention to the fragmented and objectified representation of women in media. What do you make of the title, “Pour Les Levres?" Editor: “For the lips…” It’s a little suggestive, right? Is Jones making a commentary on the consumption and sexualization of women through these symbols? Curator: Exactly. He’s exposing how female bodies are often presented as commodities, literally ‘for consumption.’ Look at the production methods: prints were easily reproduced, adding to this sense of mass production and distribution. Are we complicit in this process as viewers and consumers? Jones is forcing us to think about that. The materiality speaks volumes here. Editor: I see that. The flatness of the print, mimicking ads, combined with these sexually loaded images – it's like he's holding up a mirror to our own consumerist culture. And how the print media itself plays a part in propagating this imagery! Curator: Precisely! This artwork demands an awareness of the processes behind constructing meaning, of consuming images and materials. Do you think it critiques or celebrates this condition? Editor: I think it’s critical, definitely showing the processes and exposing them. This was a fascinating, albeit unsettling piece. Thanks for helping me unpack it! Curator: My pleasure! It's a prime example of how focusing on material and production methods can offer a much richer understanding of the artwork.