The Pregnant Moment

Nope, not a blog about Princess Kate. A trip to the Tate Modern and the Lichtenstein exhibition.
Lichtenstein is the name most closely associated with the pop art of the 1960's, and two of the galleries were filled with his iconic paintings imitating comic strip stories.

This was the highlight of the exhibition - huge, primary coloured, dramatic paintings that demanded you stand back and recreate the story that must have surrounded that moment. 






The guidebook pointed to Lichtenstein's 'interest in the pregnant moment - the crux from which one can imagine the whole story'. The 'pregnant moments' are deliberately chosen to depict the cliched gender roles that war comics and romance magazines reinforced.
My guess is that Brad comes good, and nobly rescues the helpless creature (right) who can't bring herself to call him...






Travelling home on the train, I couldn't help but think of other 'pregnant moments' in paintings, and wondering to what degree words are needed to explain a picture and to what degree they get in the way. 

'He is not here. He is risen, just as he said'

The gospel comes to us in words and, as powerful as a painting of the crucifixion may be, it takes words to interpret it. But maybe too many words (or the wrong words...) obscure the meaning. 
The pregnant moments of Lichtenstein's pop art certainly drew me in, and made me want to see the rest of the story!  Perhaps there's a lesson to learn...