Pow Wow 1979

Roy Lichtenstein made this painting, "Pow Wow", in the style he's known for, using primary colors and bold outlines to create a flattened, graphic kind of space. It’s like he's winking at us, saying, "Hey, art can be fun, too!" The way he lays down the paint is so matter-of-fact, almost mechanical. You can practically see the Ben-Day dots, even though they're not really there. The colors are so clean and crisp; it makes you wonder, where's the mess? But that's the point, isn't it? He's taking something messy and chaotic – like a pow wow – and turning it into something controlled and orderly. Look at the wavy lines down the bottom that might be water. It's as if he’s saying, "I see you, image. I can flatten you, repeat you, own you." Lichtenstein is doing a kind of dance with mass culture, a dance that's still got us talking today. I’m thinking about Magritte and his representational games, but this has a totally different feel to it.