Robert Indiana, self titled as the “American Painter of Signs” held a key role in the Pop Art movement since the 1960s.

He was an influencer in the concept of using word in art, which has been followed by many artists following him. From as early as the first grade, Indiana identified himself as an artist, spending his childhood learning about the arts, and even attending an art focused high school.

After attending the military, Indiana began studying art and attended the Art Institute of Chicago, where he developed his skills that would later influence his artistic career. In 1956, Indiana moved to New York City, and made a stamp on the ‘Pop Art’ movement. He distinguished himself from the typical images of pop art by incorporating important social and political messages in his works. He used his artwork as a platform to share his voice and opinion, all while staying true to his colorful and bold style.

It wasn’t until the 1960 that he began experimenting with the iconic Love symbol. First he began by creating an ‘Eat’ sculpture that was showcased at the New York World’s Fair, and followed that by playing around with other simple words. His idea was to take simple words, and reinterpret the way they are seen, by drawing people’s attention to them. He believed in the idea of looking at things we think we understand from a whole new perspective.

“The word LOVE got to be the way it is because I have a kind of a passion about symmetry and the dividing of things into equal parts. The word LOVE is that way because those four letters best fit a square if the square is squared by that particular arrangement. And it was really that sort of a necessity for a very compact form that I came upon that arrangement…With the red, blue and green paintings the interaction in the eye is of such a nature that with the slightest change of light the fields automatically interchange, the positive becomes negative and vice versa, with almost a violent effect in the eye.” — Robert Indiana