Vance Kirkland long series of ‘Dot Paintings’. ... This technique might remind one of Pointillism, but only in theory, not in practice...this method is far from that of the Pointillists. The big, organic forms are built up from tiny dots, using powerful, sometimes brutal colors ... The dots of paint are plastic; they protrude from the surface of the painting, almost transforming it to a relief.” There are four main series and some important sub-series: Energy of Vibrations in Space [with sub-series Valhalla, Geometric, Einstein, Open Suns]; Energy of Mysteries in Space; Energy of Explosions in Space; Energy of Forces in Space;
Big Painting No. 6 is in part a satirical response to the gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism. Like most of Lichtenstein's Ben-Day dots works it is a depiction of mechanical reproduction via painterly technique. In this case, the satire comes from the depiction of the graphical depiction of the spontaneous painting motion in painstaking painterly detail. In early 1970, Andy Warhol established the record auction price for a painting by a living American artist with a $60,000 (US$ in dollars) sale of "Big Campbell's Soup Can with Torn Label (Vegetable Beef)" (1962), which is part of the "Campbell's Soup Cans" series, in a sale