Contextual Portfolio - Roy Litchenstein
Pop art is interesting as although it is simplistic due to the use of bold block colours and also not many colours are used within one piece. I think pop art is successful as emotions can still be expressed through the art work/designs.
Oh Jeff...I love you, too...But...Roy Lichtenstein1964Oil and magna on canvas1219 x 1219 mm
The title of the piece is exactly the same as what is inside the speech bubble in the artwork; this helps to give the audience a glimpse of what is in store for them to see. Also it suggests that this piece of text is highly important to the success of the piece. It gives the audience a snippet of what they will see which may tease them and make them want to see more/ the whole piece.
The artwork shows a fairly close up of a woman with blonde hair and is on the phone to someone and this piece captures the woman when she has just said something to the person on the other end of the phone. She looks to be concerned or confused about something due to the way her eyebrows are positioned and due to the fact that there are lines on the forehead of the woman; this also suggests that the woman is worrying about something as these lines are often classed/called worry lines as they are made when a certain expression is made on the face. The woman has light blue eyes which suggests that she is still worrying what she has just said the reason for thinking this is that blue is a thoughtful colour which suggests that she is deep in thought about what ‘Jeff’ may say or how she will finish her sentence. The piece uses the colours, red, yellow, black, white and blue which three of them are primary colours which makes the piece look basic as most of the colours have been applied in block sections. The blue in the background suggests that she is loyal to the person on the phone and doesn’t want to let them down as she values their company. The yellow backs up the connotations of worry as that sort of yellow has connotations of stress and therefore the worrying is now building up and is turning in to stress. The face is made up of loads of red dots which when you look at the art work from a far it makes the woman look like she has gone red with the embarrassment of something she has said or done. The phone in the piece could be a representation of Jeff which if that is the case it suggests that he is an innocent and pure character that just wants to be loved back as much as he loves her.
The text is quite powerful and shows the woman’s true emotions and she must feel strongly about what she has said as she has the courage to actually to say them words rather than it just being a thought. The text suggests that she loves a man called Jeff but isn’t entirely sure if he’s the right one for her as she keeps pausing which is expressed by ellipse. This suggests that she is worrying about her future and doesn’t want to rush into decisions that may change her future in a drastic way.
I like this piece a lot as although the shapes and colours are quite basic I feel that the emotions of the woman are conveyed effectively. I would use this style of work to inspire my own work as I love the pop art style that has been used as it looks like a cartoon. Also it can be related to the style of a magazine as they tend to use bright colours that are bold.
