Queen Elizabeth II 1 

Curator: Oh my! It’s as if Lichtenstein and a deck of playing cards had a royal baby. It throws such a funhouse mirror on the stoicism we usually see. Editor: We are looking at Romero Britto’s work “Queen Elizabeth II 1,” an acrylic painting showcasing his signature vibrant and patterned pop art style to depict the monarch. Curator: That is putting it mildly. I mean, the clashing colors, the geometric anarchy… It's practically a rebellion against the royal portrait! The queen is rendered in such stark lines; it gives a whole new meaning to "graphic" design! Editor: Britto appropriates the visual language of cartoons and comics, but in doing so he builds upon a very long tradition of symbolic portraiture, remixing those themes through accessible modern channels. Consider the colours—each deliberately coded with emotional weight. Curator: True. That little heart under the eye - the one that echoes the suit of hearts - I imagine Britto wanted to hint at a deeper narrative? Not just duty, but personality too? Maybe the weight of a crown demands a certain lightness to compensate. Editor: Precisely! Notice the strategic deployment of red throughout: not just passion but duty, the 'bleeding heart' of commitment to an idea bigger than oneself. The cartoon style is more than just frivolous; it serves as a friendly invitation. Curator: It’s interesting that even caricatured like this, the overall impression does still evoke regal formality and a certain cultural memory that one might associate with classic British symbolism like, say, the Union Jack. The subject persists almost independently of style! It really gets under your skin and messes with the mind! Editor: Indeed, the echoes of Warhol and even a bit of Haring show us that Britto takes an accepted image—here, the image of the Queen—and re-presents it as a piece of shared culture, both mocking and memorializing an icon. Curator: Well, Britto certainly ensures she wouldn’t fade into the background. For those who believe in iconography, this work might spark fierce disagreement about decorum and visual convention, yet no one can say it's boring. Editor: Perhaps therein lies its value, its capacity to spark discussions about memory, power, and our modern modes of cultural preservation.