Pop Art, the Atmosphere and Printmaking: Reconsidering James Rosenquist’s Welcome to the Water Planet Series

In 1989, the American artist James Rosenquist embarked on the Welcome to the water planet series, followed by one of the print world’s most ambitious editioned prints, Sky dust. This feat of print and paper making was over 10-metres long and depicted a strange group of objects suspended in the sky. While Rosenquist is well known as a leading Pop artist who investigated commercialism and the American consumer society, his lifelong preoccupation with humanity’s impact on the air and atmosphere is little discussed. Created at Tyler Graphics, New York, Rosenquist’s creative ambitions for the Welcome to the water planet series were pushed by a newly developed form of aerosol papermaking, which united his artistic concerns with a method for creating work at scale.

David Greenhalgh is a Curator, International Art at the National Gallery of Australia. He has recently curated Cézanne to Giacometti and Rauschenberg & Johns: significant others.

This event will be held both on-campus and online via Zoom (a link to the online stream will be sent to registered attendees).

The School of Art & Design Seminar series will continue weekly on Tuesdays from 1-2pm, between 17 February and 21 October 2025, co-convened by Dr Alex Burchmore and Alia Parker.