Chem IA

Printed with Lichtenstein’s signature Ben-Day dots, this print combines the graphic imagery of comic books with symbols of modern industry. Chem IA was originally designed as one third of a larger print, Peace Through Chemistry, depicting the advent of farming, then industry, before culminating in Chem IA, positioning human mastery of chemicals as the logical culmination of this development. Without the other two images to contextualize this print, the image of a block human head in profile peering into a billowing test tube is enigmatic rather than victorious.