Born Robert Clark in New Castle Indiana, in 1928, Robert Indiana adopted the name of his native state as a pseudonymous surname early in his career. "There have been many American SIGN painters, but there never were any American sign PAINTERS." This exercise in emphasis sums up Robert Indiana's position in the world of contemporary art. He has taken the everyday symbols of roadside America and made them into brilliantly colored geometric Pop Art*.

In his work he has been an ironic commentator on the American scene. Both his graphics and his paintings have made cultural statements on life and, during the rebellious 1960s, pointed political statements as well.

Indiana studied first at the Herron School of ...