Lichtenstein’s Reflections on Soda Fountain, 1991 is one of his most visually captivating artworks, which gives the impression of a subject viewed through a glass plane.
An innovative screenprint created late in his career, Reflections on Soda Fountain is a departure from his famed comic book styles, instead focusing on reflective surfaces created through his signature ben day dots and diagonal lines. Taking the soda bar, a cornerstone of American consumerist culture in the 50’s and 60’s, the figure seems to sit at a booth contemplating everyday life as she drinks her soda through a straw. The female figure doesn’t need an identity though, whether she is visible or not, we recognise this everyday scene the artist depicts, through his framed composition and bold red, blue, green colour codes. Lichtenstein cleverly sabotages his own signature pop art female figures by pushing them to the point of abstraction, as we view these characters through sharp mirrored shapes and refracted pictorial planes.
Exploring an intricate depiction of light and perception, Lichtenstein’s contrasting visuals distilled through harsh lines and fractions of unmodulated pigments and patterns, challenge traditional notions of what we see and create.