"Black Lichtenstein" No, it's not a 1970s movie, it's Pop Art!
"Where the !@#$% are the Black people?" --BCharlesB, referring to a book on Roy Lichtenstein's Pop Art
Blacks (and other minorities) have appeared in comic strips and books since their inception, usually in minor roles, and almost always as stereotyped images (mammies, minstrels, cannibals, etc.)! By the time Roy Lichtenstein began doing his ground-breaking "Pop Art" series in the early 1960s, recreating comic panels on canvas, some non-sterotyped minorities had finally appeared in the pages of comic books.
Yet, not a single Black, Asian, Hispanic, or other minority found his (or her) way onto fine-art canvas along with the WASPy beautiful women and square-jawed heroes!
So, self-taught artists Adibah P and BCharlesB decided to follow in Lichtenstein's graphic footprints in a new series of canvases...but with several major differences, the most obvious being that every piece in the "Pop Art in Black" series features Blacks and/or other minorities!
Unlike Lichtenstein, who believing his artistic sensibilities were superior to the original artists', recomposed and redrew the panels, Adibah and BCharles do not change any aspect of the original linework. (To quote legendary writer Walter Mosley on his superb Maximum Fantastic Four book which reprints the classic comic Fantastic Four #1 with each panel as a full page... "I wanted to capture the feeling I had as a child when I would bear down and examine each panel with the kind of scrutiny that opens up worlds. I found that when I blew up the image--each panel comprising its own page--I was able to recreate that same experience.") Adibah and BCharles feel that the original artists' visual instincts were correct, and recomposing the art would dilute the visceral visual impact which made the art so memorable to begin with.
They decided to keep primarily to images created circa 1900 to 1980, because comic art took a radically-different turn after that period.
They decided to keep the original 64-color palette comic printers utilized up to that point, since the original art was designed to be printed using that limited color range. No PhotoShop tricks or funky effects. They're trying to match what the technology of the time could do, but using modern reproduction methods.
And they are relettering the art since letterers were usually so rushed that they couldn't properly compose the word balloons and still meet deadlines. The new lettering retains the original text, just recomposed for aesthetics.
The most important difference is that the original artists will receive a percentage of the sale of the artwork! 10% of all sales will go to the artists or their estates! (Lichtenstein never paid a cent to any of the artists whose work he appropriated.)
Five pieces of the "Pop Art in Black" series are already completed. GIFs of three of them are here on artwanted.com. More will follow next month. Each is available as: 1) A one-of-a-kind hand-retouched and signed Monoprint, the "original" from which will be produced... 2) A 10-copy limited-edition signed & numbered giclee on canvas. and 3) A line of products ranging from t-shirts to canvas bags to coffee mugs available thru CafePress www.cafepress.com/adibah5,adibah4,adibah3,adibah2,adibah1
Over a dozen more pieces are in various stages of preparation. A new piece will be released each week. Some will be cute. Some will be controversial.
