James Rosenquist (American, born 1933) Nomad, 1963 Oil on canvas, plastic, and wood, 90 x 141" Gift of Seymour H. Knox, 1963 © James Rosenquist / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

James Rosenquist was a major figure in the 1960s movement known as Pop art. The term "pop" refers to popular culture, which was used as subject matter for both painting and sculpture. In this painting, Rosenquist combines consumer items, such as the laundry detergent Oxydol and the bright red canned spaghetti sauce, with things related to leisure time activities, such as ballet dancers and a picnic table. Seemingly unrelated are a plot of grass, a microphone, and an electric light bulb. A gray wallet and the word "new", which is placed on a bright yellow background and done in relief, reflect important aspects of 1960s America. Everything was "new" in this affluent, mass-producing, and consumer-oriented society.

The composition of Nomad, in part, reflects the fascination Rosenquist holds for the way people are constantly bombarded with images, through printed materials, signs, television, movies, and so on. It can be distracting and hinder the ability to focus. No element in Nomad stands out as a focal point of the composition. This is due to the artistÌs skillful manipulation of scale, color, and repetition of shapes such as Xs and Os. Choosing the word Nomad for the title might reflect the way our eye roves around the painting trying to make sense of the fragmented information that he presents.

Another important factor that influenced the appearance of Nomad was Rosenquist's earlier career as a commercial billboard painter. Since billboards are read very quickly as cars drive by, there is no need for a lot of detail. Objects must be large and easily identifiable. Rosenquist became intrigued by the fact that while painting a billboard, he could only see a fragment of it at a time. Also, he realized that even an everyday object could attain a certain visual power when enlarged.

— Mariann Smith

SUGGESTIONS FOR HANDS-ON AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

• Choose a culture that your class is studying. Have students, either in groups or individually, create a work of art that describes one aspect of that culture (religion, technology, daily life, industry, landscape, etc.) using only fragments of images. Display the images together.
• James Rosenquist was showing what American culture was like in the 1960s. Have students create a similar work that reflects American society in the 1990s.
• Have students choose a very small object and draw it on a large scale. Then have them do the oppositeÛchoose a very large object and draw it on a small scale. Combine the two objects in one composition and write a dialogue between them.
• Using the lunch menu schedule from your school, have each student choose one food item and draw it. Enlarge the drawings to a mural-sized scale and display them in the cafeteria. (You may want to enlist the help of an art teacher for this one!)