Untitled

Wesselmann cut shaped sections from acrylic-painted mylar and affixed them to paper with tape, creating a hybrid of painting and collage. The surfaces retain the sheen of plastic and the matte quality of paper, emphasizing material contrast. Jagged forms are arranged without symmetry, producing a dynamic, non-hierarchical composition that challenges traditional notions of pictorial balance.

This piece originates from Wesselmann’s final decade of production, during which he increasingly turned to abstract collage. It reflects his ongoing interest in industrial materials like mylar, which he had used since the 1960s. The work was likely made in his New York studio and entered private collections shortly after completion, with no public exhibition history documented prior to its current attribution.

Emerging from the pop art movement, Wesselmann spent his career redefining its boundaries. By 1999, he had moved beyond consumer imagery to explore abstraction, influenced by mid-century modernism and the material experiments of contemporaries like Robert Rauschenberg. This work aligns with a broader trend among pop artists who, in later years, turned toward formalism and process-driven composition.

This drawing exemplifies Wesselmann’s late shift from figurative pop to abstract assemblage, revealing his enduring commitment to material innovation. It contributes to a lesser-known but significant phase of his career, where the boundaries between painting, collage, and sculpture blurred. Its influence is seen in subsequent generations of artists who prioritize process and materiality over iconography.