There’s no denying the cultural presence of Roy Lichtenstein – his expansion of comic book graphics is now more identifiable than the original genre. Along with Warhol, he narrowed the gap between art and life and made possible all the pop oriented art from the 60s to the present. The show at Tate Modern attempts to celebrate Lichtenstein’s inventiveness and creative personality beyond the mere appropriation of comic book imagery. By showing his redesigning of the source material (most obvious in the Tate’s 1963 painting ‘Whaam!’) they claim an autonomy and originality for him previously ignored.

On display is early and late work that has not been seen in the UK before that suggests an undiscovered variety within his narrow idiom. Lichtenstein was keen to assert the handmade-ness of his work so as to maintain his fine art credentials, but the early work is surprisingly slapdash and the mature work is so mechanical and perfect that the artist’s touch is invisible. The large room of his classic War and Romance pictures is undoubtedly the highlight of the exhibition, full of punchy, eye-grabbing icons – he is a consummate designer – however the curators’ ambition to present him as a subtle master with covert psychological depth is ultimately unconvincing.

Exhibition continues until 27 May 2013, more information and book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Chris Kenny.