Flag 

Derek Boshier made this painting, "Flag," using acrylic on canvas. Acrylic paint is interesting. It came into widespread use in the mid-20th century, a product of industrial chemistry. The flat, graphic quality of acrylic lends itself well to Boshier’s Pop style. Notice the way he's layered an old computer interface onto the stars and stripes, with a scrubby sky-blue ground as backdrop. The texture of the paint is relatively smooth, and would have been applied with brushes, building up the composition in stages. The crisp edges between the colors and the flat application of paint give it an almost screen-printed appearance. Boshier wasn't interested in traditional virtuosity. Instead, the painting points to the mass media and the culture of information, challenging the line between art and popular culture. It’s a potent reminder that even the most familiar symbols can be re-contextualized, asking us to look at the world with fresh eyes.