Wall Lamp 1994

Patrick Caulfield made this ‘Wall Lamp’ using screenprint, and, to me, the fun’s in how the colours are laid down. Look at how flat it is. It’s like he's saying, "here’s a lamp, but also a painting". Caulfield's playing with the tension between real and fake. See that intense orange line on the lamp? It's like he’s outlining reality, but also winking at us. He’s not trying to fool anyone into thinking this is a real lamp. It’s more like he’s saying, "Let's think about what a lamp *is*." The colours are so bold and flat that they feel almost like a cartoon. Caulfield reminds me a bit of David Hockney, also British, in the way he takes everyday scenes and makes them pop with unexpected colour and playful abstraction. It's all about keeping art alive, one conversation at a time.