American painter, commercial designer and sculptor. In 1948, he received a grant to study at the Minneapolis School of Art and, between 1952 and 1955, studied Painting at the University of Minnesota. In 1955, he moved to New York to study at the Art Students League. He earned his living by painting posters and, in 1960, began to apply similar techniques to large scale paintings. His references to mass produced goods and magazines, films and other aspects of the means of mass communication, together with his impartial and, apparently, anonymous technique, led to him being considered one of the key figures in the development of Pop Art in the United States. Nonetheless, Rosenquist's approach to Pop themes, such as sex and consumerism, have little to do with the lines of the work of such artists as Warhol or Lichtenstein. In 1968 and 1977 he took part in Documenta 4 and 6 in Kassel and, in 1970, produced his first work on video. In his recent work, produced with an obfuscating technical virtuosity, Rosenquist has not reneged on his contract with the Pop aesthetic, which in turn, has proved to be tremendously stimulating to David Salle and other young 80s painters.
