Stepping out 1978

Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Stepping Out’ is an oil on canvas painting, typical of his Pop Art style. The painting is characterized by bold, flat colors, black outlines, and the use of Ben-Day dots, a printing technique borrowed from commercial printing. Lichtenstein meticulously recreated these dots by hand, mimicking the mechanical process of mass production. This technique allowed him to engage with the visual language of advertising and comic books, blurring the lines between high art and popular culture. By appropriating and recontextualizing these images, Lichtenstein questioned the role of originality and authorship in art. The labor-intensive process of hand-painting what appears to be a mass-produced image adds another layer of complexity, highlighting the tension between artistic skill and mechanical reproduction. Ultimately, Lichtenstein’s work challenges our assumptions about what constitutes art, drawing attention to the pervasive influence of consumer culture on our visual landscape.