James Rosenquist : The Swimmer in the Econo-mist

The subjects of The Swimmer in the Econo-mist are industry and consumerism, and the turbulent nature of the economy as a whole. The paintings also refer to the wars that have shaped this century, as the images drawn from F-111 and Picasso's Guernica suggest. The paintings's swirling vortices are a visual metaphor for unrest: passing from black-and-white to vivid color, from abstraction to glimpses of realism, from the mundane to the extraterrestrial, they hurtle across the large canvases toward the far end of the gallery, where they come to a halt.

This fully illustrated catalogue includes an interview with the artist by Rosenblum and an essay by preeminent Rosenquist scholar Judith Goldman.