“Being a child in America you are getting advertised at. It’s like being hit on the head with a ball-pin hammer. You become numb. You’re constantly hit upon. Here’s the way it felt. How does one exist in our culture?”
U ntitled, executed in 1973, typifies James Rosenquist’s ability to combine everyday objects into serialized compositions brimming with the chromatic vitality commercial advertisements. Dynamic in arrangement, three sets of nails evoke an arrangement of multicolored tally marks. Drawing from his background as a billboard painter, Rosenquist’s slick brushstrokes appear hard edged and precise, intentionally occulting the artist’s hand. Being one of the main proponents of Pop art, Rosenquist has been often compared to Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein due to their shared fascination with popular culture, yet Rosenquist’s practice emphasizes its underwhelming nature through enigmatic compositions meant to be a critical mirror image of mass media. As explained by Rosenquist, “I wanted to use the tools and technology of advertising to do that [make a statement]. I had been directed to paint things hot and juicy, to sell them. [...] I could stop painting advertisements and I could do something about it.” (James Rosenquist, in Ann Staniszewsk, “James Rosenquist by Mary Ann Staniszewsk”, Bomb Magazine)
Rosenquist explored serialized images of nails during the 1970’s in an effort to underpin subjacent themes of violence and labor while conjuring a composite experience of nostalgia. Interested in the concept of fragmentation, Rosenquist engages with a deconstructed sense of remembrance, for the viewer is given the most elemental component as to conjure upon him the image of a built object. A painter of the American vernacular, Rosenquist’s subject matter historically highlights the alluring potential contained in the commonness of everyday items. In this regard, the artist explains “concept in art rises and falls according to how you feel. If you have something that is physical it might look banal some days, it might look like this, that or whatever, but it is still there.” (James Rosenquist, in Bill Rabinovitch, “Stories, Images & Openings”, 2021) Rosenquist’s Untitled presents a quintessential exploration into the internal fascinations of the American painter, presenting a compelling image that underscores the artist’s contribution to the history of Pop art.
