''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'' (sometimes ''Okay Hot-Shot'') is a 1963 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein that uses his Ben-Day dots style and a text balloon. It is one of several examples of

military art Military art is art with a military subject matter, regardless of its style or medium. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate po ...

that Lichtenstein created between 1962 and 1964, including several with aeronautical themes like this one. It was inspired by panels from four different comic books that provide the sources for the plane, the pilot, the text balloon and the graphic

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

, "VOOMP!". Lichtenstein made several alterations to the source images as he compiled them into this composition. He used themes in this work that relate to those expressed in several of his other works. The narrative content is also said to relate to themes from other works, but instead of Lichtenstein's own works it relates to

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

's contemporaneous works.

Background

During the late 1950s and early 1960s a number of American painters began to adapt the imagery and motifs of comic strips. Lichtenstein made drawings of comic strip characters in 1958.

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

produced his earliest paintings using this style in 1960. Lichtenstein, unaware of Warhol's work, produced ''Look Mickey'' and ''Popeye'' in 1961. Soon, Lichtenstein advanced from animated cartoons to more serious themes such as romance and combat depictions. Lichtenstein said that at the time, "I was very excited about, and very interested in, the highly emotional content yet detached impersonal handling of love, hate, war, etc., in these cartoon images." The work was inspired by five different comic book panels made by

Russ Heath Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also prod ...

and

Irv Novick Irving Novick (; April 11, 1916 – October 15, 2004) was an American comics artist who worked almost continuously from 1939 until the 1990s. Career A graduate of the National Academy of Design, Irv Novick got his start in the workshop of Harry " ...

. The plane, the pilot, the text balloon and the graphic onomatopoeia, "VOOMP!", all come from panels from different comic books. Lichtenstein was a trained draftsman and artist. He also received training during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as an army pilot, but never saw active combat. His list of aeronautically themed works is extensive, including several others featuring pilots situated in cockpits during air combat such as '' Jet Pilot'' (1962), '' Brattata'' (1962), and '' Bratatat!'' (1963). Some sources list ''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'' along with ''

Whaam! ''Whaam!'' is a 1963 diptych painting by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is one of the best-known works of pop art, and among Lichtenstein's most important paintings. ''Whaam!'' was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New ...

'' and '' Blam'' as Lichtenstein's best-known examples of

. ''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'' is one of several comics-based works, including ''Jet Pilot'' and ''Von Karp'', inspired by the World War II U.S. fighter pilot Johnny Cloud of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' '' The Losers''. The January–February 1962 DC Comics' '' All-American Men of War'' issue #89 was the inspiration for several Lichtenstein paintings, providing two of the source panels of ''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'' as well as sources for ''Brattata'', ''Blam'', ''Whaam!'' and ''Tex!'' The graphite pencil sketch, ''Jet Pilot'' was also from that issue.

Critical appraisal

In the source, the pilot wore traditional World War II headgear, but Lichtenstein altered the headgear to that of a

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

, astronaut or modern air force pilot of the Cold War era. Lichtenstein also shifted the subject so that his left

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

is in the frame. The work also is related to Lichtenstein's theme of "machine and embodied vision" as exhibited in works such as ''

Crak! ''Crak!'' (sometimes ''Crack!'') is a 1963 pop art lithograph by Roy Lichtenstein in his comic book style of using Ben-Day dots and a text balloon. It was used in marketing materials for one of Lichtenstein's early shows. It is one of several ...

'', ''Bratatat!'', and ''Jet Pilot''. The narrative content, "Okay, hot-shot, okay! I'm pouring! mmunition into the enemy is said to have a dual meaning that alludes to the style of poured painting being made famous at the time by Pollock. Melodrama through heightened tension ties this with some of Lichtenstein's most notable works. While melding the elements and motifs of panels from two artists, Lichtenstein simplified the hatching and use of color. In Lichtenstein's obituary, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' critic Christopher Knight said the use of color in this work harkened back to works by

Morris Louis Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D. ...

and the explosion's graphic elements recalled

Kenneth Noland Kenneth Noland (April 10, 1924 – January 5, 2010) was an American painter. He was one of the best-known American color field painters, although in the 1950s he was thought of as an abstract expressionist and in the early 1960s he was though ...

's target work. In an account published in 1998 after Lichtenstein was famous, Irv Novick said that he met Lichtenstein in the army in 1947 and, as his superior officer, had responded to Lichtenstein's tearful complaints about the menial tasks he was assigned by recommending him for a better job. Jean-Paul Gabilliet has questioned this account, saying that Lichtenstein had left the army a year before the time Novick says the incident took place. Bart Beaty, noting that Lichtenstein had appropriated Novick for works such as ''Whaam!'' and ''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'', says that Novick's story "seems to be an attempt to personally diminish" the more famous artist.

Sources

External links

''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!''
at Lichtenstein Foundation {{Portal bar, Aviation, Comics, Visual arts 1963 paintings 20th-century portraits Aviation art Military art Paintings by Roy Lichtenstein Portraits by American artists

Background

Critical appraisal

See also

Sources

External links