Alka Seltzer

A glass of fizzy Alka-Seltzer dominates this stark black-and-white drawing, its bubbles meticulously rendered as they rise. Created in 1966, this piece showcases a key moment in Pop Art, where everyday commercial imagery was elevated to fine art. The artist used commercial illustration techniques, magnifying them to create a subversive effect. Notice how the gas bubbles are indicated by carefully scraping away extra spaces from a field of hand-stenciled Benday dots. The reflective surface of the glass is signified by flat black graphite shapes, a deliberate parody of the simplified, line-cut style found in pulp advertising. This work brings together early graphic techniques, introducing formal preoccupations that would define much of the artist's later output.