Kitchen range 1962

Roy Lichtenstein made this pop art print, Kitchen Range, which we can see here at the National Gallery of Australia using lithograph and screenprint. Lichtenstein’s colours and marks are so flat and bold! What I see here is a kind of comic-strip version of domesticity. This yellow backdrop makes the oven almost vibrate, doesn't it? Look at the way Lichtenstein renders the food inside. That juicy roast and pie are built with thick, unwavering lines, and patterns that recall the clean, efficient style of mid-century advertising. Then notice the little details. See how those graphic lines and perfect shapes don't quite describe the way things really are, yet suggest some kind of emotional temperature of food, design, and home. Lichtenstein looked at the everyday and remade it in a way that’s both familiar and totally strange. I’m reminded here of artists like Andy Warhol, who also found endless inspiration in consumer culture. Together they remind us that art can be found anywhere, even in the kitchen.