Smoker Study #38 1967

Tom Wesselmann made this Smoker Study, number 38, with paint, reducing a mundane act into blocks of bold color. He presents us with this sliver of a moment, and isolates the sensuality of smoking. Look at that red, those lips. They're so vibrant, it’s almost violent. See how the redness bleeds slightly into the skin, like smeared lipstick? And then there’s the smoke. It's not just smoke, it's this ghostly, twisting form that almost seems alive, a stark contrast to the solid, almost cartoonish lips. The paint is applied smoothly, no visible brushstrokes here, making the image sleek and impersonal. Wesselmann, like Warhol, was interested in Pop Art, so he focused on everyday images, things you'd see in ads, but here he magnifies it, abstracts it, and makes it unsettling. It’s like a James Rosenquist billboard, blown up to epic proportions. What he does is make something totally common into a strange, iconic vision. And who knew a cigarette could be so… loaded?