ART CITIES:N.York-The Greene Street Mural of Roy Lichtenstein
In 1983 at the Leo’s Castelli Gallery on 142 Greene Street, Roy Lichtenstein created a site-specific mural that remixed imagery from some of his most iconic paintings. It was on show at the Gallery from 3/12/83 to 14/1/84, after that the work was destroyed to make room for another exhibition and all that remains of the project are a few photographs, a blueprint, and a handful of studies.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Gagosian Gallery Archive
Thirty –two years after the original mural was created and destroyed, Gagosian Gallery in collaboration with the Roy Lichtenstein foundation presents to the newer generations a full-scale painted replica of the original work, based on documentation from Lichtenstein’s studio and produced under the supervision of his former studio assistant. In keeping with the momentous spirit of the original project, the replica will be destroyed at the close of the exhibition.In “Greene Street Mural”, Lichtenstein layered pervasive images from his pop lexicon with new motifs, including the Neo-Geo tropes of the Perfect/Imperfect paintings, faux woodblock shading patterns and office items including filing cabinets, envelopes, and folding chairs. Echoing the self-reflexive and art-historical juxtapositions of the Artist’s Studio paintings made during the same period, the mural conflates citations from Lichtenstein’s own oeuvre with references to Picasso and Brancusi, Art Deco motifs, and depictions of the Great Pyramids. This heady mix epitomizes Lichtenstein’s ability to absorb anything and everything that caught his eye into his constantly evolving artistic idiom. Unlike the original, which was painted by McKeever and Lichtenstein using a massive projection, the 2015 version was not produced by artists, but by commercial sign painters. McKeever said “I think they wanted to make it clear that it is a copy. Roy drew out the original body himself, so for us to try to do that is not really the same thing…. We wanted to just make it a faithful reproduction”.
Info: Roy Lichtenstein: Greene Street Mural, Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street, New York, Duration: 10/9-17/10/15, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat: 10:00-18:00, www.gagosian.com
