U.S.A. Flag 1960

Claes Oldenburg made this U.S.A. Flag out of paint-soaked canvas and plaster. I love the crudeness of it. Look at how he’s built the surface with these heavy, swollen ridges of red and white—it almost feels like the flag is breathing. I can imagine Oldenburg in his studio, wrestling with this thing, smearing and layering paint, building it up like some kind of weird, patriotic cake. It's so tactile, you want to reach out and touch it, feel the weight and texture of the thing. The blue square is almost bruised, like a storm cloud hanging over the whole scene. There’s something about Oldenburg’s approach that feels so relevant today. He takes these everyday objects, these symbols that we think we understand, and he turns them into something strange and unsettling. In so doing, he demands that we look closer, question our assumptions, and see the world anew. And that's why his work continues to speak to artists like myself.