Roy Lichtenstein’s Explosion, made in 1967, is a key work from the Pop artist’s ‘comic-art’ period. From an edition of 100, it is a rare print image.
Lichtenstein’s familiar motifs of bold outline borders, Benday dots and solid primary blocks of colour collide to build textured depth in evoking the visual effect of an explosion. The solid bands of colour in the centre illuminate the immediate intensity of the blast, whilst the striped beams of electric-hued lightening-like bolts fork out of the frame, inferring a seemingly limitless scale. Lichtenstein’s signature Benday dots – seen in the farthest two circular layers - were applied with tusche squeegeed through a grid directly onto the plate, which gives the impression of clouds of smoke in the aftermath of the bang. The loose blue specks in the centre are less stylised than his key motifs seen elsewhere, perhaps indicating the debris of the explosion.
The vivid colours of the cartoon-style captures a more sinister state of warfare; perhaps encapsulating his own experience in the army. This merging of destructive detonation through a cruder, more simplistic cartoon-style rendering with the vibrancy of primary colours arguably desensitises the destruction.