Art Madrid'25 – ALL HEROES: LICHTENSTEIN IN THE CANAL FOUNDATION

The Canal Foundation opens an exhibition dedicated to the Lichtenstein posters on Thursday, October 4th. The designer facet of this artist has made him a global icon in the field of posters. In this showing, there will be a total of 76 pieces, many of them travelling to our country for the first time.

Roy Lichtenstein, “Crying Girl”, 1963

American Pop Art identifies with the work of three paradigmatic creators: Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, although each of them developed a unique and personal style that allows distinguishing their work within the pop movement. If Warhol opted to exploit the figure of the media-icons of the moment with techniques based on mass reproduction and copy-interventions, Lichtenstein focused on comics and the exploration of a likewise iconographic aesthetic, albeit starting with characters in vignettes. His plastic composition, closer to the printed images of newspapers and magazines, became a reference of this artistic style, based on the strong contrast of colours, the figures outlined on dotted backgrounds and the use of motifs connected with advertising and graphic novel.

Roy Lichtenstein, “M-Maybe”, 1965

His work, in fact, drinks from the trend of mass production where the importance of the single piece, a symbol of a period already surpassed in the history of art, is left aside, to focus on gaining visibility through infinite copies. This approach to artistic creation is only a sign of the moment, a time when factories and industry reach the peak of their productivity and need a public, avid of objects to feel part of a hyper-consumer society.

Roy Lichtenstein, “Sunrise”, 1965

Paradoxically, the motifs chosen by Lichtenstein for his multiple copies ironise on the inherited standards of a society already transformed, but that resists change by imposing clichés and stereotypes. His pieces of women with kitchen tools, trapped in the inertia of everyday life, or the faces of young ladies in distress, with a standardised beauty representative of the pin-up canons still present in the comics, collide with the changing course of times where individualism gains prominence against the homogenisation of tastes and patterns of consumption. Feeling unique in the magma of globalisation, in a moment of artistic awakening in which such a concept had not even been named, is an almost visionary position that Lichtenstein manages to convey without falling into the drama or losing the freshness and visual force of his creative proposal.

 

Relive the Art Madrid’25 experience from anywhere, anytime, with our 360º Virtual Tour. Explore the fair as if you were there, navigating each space and discovering every artwork in detail.


Aerial View of Art Madrid'25. Photo by Lucas Amillano.


This year, we’ve taken the experience of Art Madrid’25 to the next level, allowing you to explore the fair from anywhere in the world. Walk through the exhibition spaces, get closer to the most fascinating pieces, and admire the impressive glass dome that bathes the entire venue in natural light. If there was any artwork you couldn’t fully appreciate or if you simply want to relive the fair’s atmosphere, now’s your chance.

Thanks to our collaboration with Coke Riera Studio and Panotour technology, we’ve captured the essence of Art Madrid’25 in an immersive tour with the highest quality and detail. Over 4,000 photographs taken from strategic points make up this interactive experience, bringing you closer to the art in an unparalleled way.

We’re thrilled to share this unique way of enjoying and revisiting contemporary art. The best part is that you can TRY IT and SHARE IT with anyone you wish! Don’t miss the chance to explore Art Madrid’25 in its full expression, whenever and wherever you choose.