Challenge

Facing up to or overcoming problems and barriers increases possibilities in our lives.

27 September 2019

As they learned how Pop artists challenged the art world of the mid-20th century, Grade 8s studied Wayne Thiebaud’s paintings of commonplace objects and Roy Lichtenstein’s paintings mimicking commercial art and printing. In transcribing prominent works by these artists, students were challenged to bring the visual characteristics of the work to life using the tools and resources at hand.

Thiebaud’s commonplace objects

We looked to contemporary artist Wayne Thiebaud’s earlier work as a useful reference for how artists associated with the Pop Art movement challenged fine art traditions. One of these ways was by making objects of mass culture the subject of the work. As my kids worked in oil and chalk pastel to create the rich texture, heavy pigment and exaggerated colour typical of a Thiebaud painting, they were challenged to think of what analogs exist in their everyday lives and in this culture. This brainstorming and collection of visual references will serve as a starting point for a unit later in the year in which they will produce, market and sell an original work of art.

Lichtenstein’s comic strip parody

To take a new spin on the unit this year, I switched out the Warhol print reference for painter Roy Lichtenstein, whose imitation of and borrowing from comic books and advertisements have become a stylistic cornerstone of Pop Art. Known for using Ben-Day dots to mimic the look of industrial printing, his artwork challenged the status quo by bringing commercial art and cartooning⁠ into the realm of fine art painting. Whilst Lichtenstein worked with a projector and perforated templates to quite a large scale, for time’s sake, I challenged my kids to do small-scale transcriptions using tracing paper and fine-tip brushes.