Roy Lichtenstein: Still Life Paintings

Freed intercuts still color imagery of Roy Lichtenstein’s paintings with a close quarters interview conducted in Southampton, N.Y in Summer 1972.  Lichtenstein discusses the creation of his work, points of inspiration and his recurring aesthetic choices. Freed interrogates Lichtenstein’s overt references to the work of other artists in his painting, questioning his intentional evocation of cliche as he tried to define the genesis of this particular approach. As the interview continues, Freed cuts away to Lichtenstein painting in his studio and they move onto discuss particular brush techniques in detail as well as the intentions for this work in progress. Lichtenstein works closely with tape to ensure clean sure lines in on his canvas - toward the end of the interview he starts to undo some of his work, scraping away paint from the canvas and retouching other areas as he discusses the back and forth process of realizing an initial sketch in this final form. Freed offers suggestions toward the relevance of Lichtenstein’s application of cartoonish techniques in order to provoke discussion and their discussion emphasizes the role of ‘fakery’ in the artists work.