Mirror #3 1972

Roy Lichtenstein made this screenprint, Mirror #3, using flat, unmodulated colors and those iconic Ben-Day dots. It’s funny, because Lichtenstein’s whole thing was taking something handmade, like painting, and making it look machine-made, but of course it was still a human process. I like how this piece sort of spoofs the idea of a mirror. It doesn’t reflect anything, but it's not quite abstract. The solid blue area, with that smudge of black at the top, feels like a presence, a solid, opaque thing. Then, on the other side, those perfect rows of dots create the illusion of light and shadow. It's like he's saying, "Here's how we make something look shiny, but it's all just tricks of the trade." Lichtenstein’s work always makes me think of other artists like James Rosenquist or even Andy Warhol, who were playing with similar ideas about pop culture and mass production. Ultimately, it's this interplay between representation and abstraction that keeps us looking and wondering.