was a defining voice in the Pop Art movement, known for his large-scale paintings and collages that fused everyday imagery with surrealist juxtapositions. Drawing from his early career as a billboard painter, Rosenquist developed a distinctive visual language that transformed commercial motifs into art, often at monumental scale.

Inspired by the slick, seductive style of 1950s and ’60s advertising, Rosenquist subverted its messaging by reassembling and distorting familiar icons like lipstick, spaghetti, and cars, into dreamlike compositions that challenged the viewer’s perception. His work teetered between representation and abstraction, crafting a uniquely American surrealism grounded in consumer culture.

Born in North Dakota and raised across the Midwest, Rosenquist showed artistic promise from a young age. After studying art formally, he moved to New York City, where he balanced commercial work painting advertisements with ongoing experimentation in his own studio. By the 1960s, he emerged as part of a generation of artists, alongside Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Rauschenberg, who redefined the boundaries of contemporary art.

Rosenquist joined Leo Castelli’s gallery, solidifying his place in the Pop Art canon. His rise paralleled many young innovators of the New York art scene, and his influence expanded globally.

His relationship with John and Kimiko Powers is reflected in the works they collected, including For Love (1965) and Collage (1985, created for the Denver Art Museum). Several of his posters and pieces are featured in the current exhibition, In the Living Room with John and Kimiko, at the Powers Art Center.