In philosophy, it was Ludwig Wiittgenstein (early 20th century Austrian philosopher). In some cases, he would incorporate text into his canvases.īeyond painting, he was a student of philosophy and literature. He considered the building blocks of language -the alphabet and words – to be symbols with ambiguous meanings. Today, with augmented reality, we can experience a similar type of juxtaposition of true reality with an interpretation of that reality.įrom the 1960s, Johns was interested in language and its relationship to visual perception and began to incorporate words and letters into his paintings, doubling as their titles. In this sense, the final object had become an amalgam of actual reality as well as an interpretation of that reality. Artist’s book with 33 images by Jasper Johns and five texts by Samuel Beckett in French and English. Here was evidence of the tools used in the creation of one of his works of art. In the 1960s, he began to incorporate objects and tools involved in the creation of a work into the actual work itself. One of his most iconic images is a series of Savarin coffee cans containing his paints and brushes. Traditionalist when he paints in encaustic (hot wax mixed with colored pigments developed in Sixth Century BC Greece), and non-traditionalist when he consciously violates the conventions of perspective (developed in 15th century Florence). In his work, Johns is an amalgam of traditionalist and non-traditionalist. Each flag is seen on a separate canvas, one placed on top of the other, challenging traditional perspective where the object farthest from viewer is reduced in size. Three Flags, 1959, in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, demonstrates this multiplicity. Cumulatively, Johns flags suggest a perceptual game of alternating between reality and illusion. Johns recalled, “One night I dreamed that I painted a large America flag … and the next morning I got up went out and bought the materials to begin it.” Over the years, this theme has been repeated and modified. However, this in no way categorizes John’s work it demonstrates the continuing validity of his perceptions and modes of visual exposition. Perhaps prescient in the 1960s, such concepts are now widely accepted and practiced in many fields of endeavor. They no longer saw cognition as a linear phenomenon, but as a barrage of correlated facts and images which were experienced differently by different viewers. Such ideas were very much in the minds of scientists and philosophers in the 1960s. His objective is to stimulate the mind and eye in new ways and to provoke viewers to study and break fixed habits of perception. Throughout his entire career, Johns has returned to the same symbols and motifs such as flags and targets often utilizing different media. Art ⓒ Jasper Johns/ Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY The Lauder Foundation, Howard Taubman, Laura-Lee Woods, Howard Lipman and Ed Downe in honor of the Museum’s 50th Anniversary. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York purchase with funds from the Gilman Foundation, Inc. The organizers of this exhibition have seen it differently by using the many themes of his paintings as a presentation principle. Although a career embracing exhibition, it does not follow the chronological progression of a typical artist’s retrospective. Organized and presented in collaboration with the Royal Academy London, it had been presented there prior to its being seen in Los Angeles. The Broad exhibition of Jasper Johns work is a landmark event consisting of more then 100 works spanning sixty years of this career. Johns was more a silent partner than an active participant however, it is difficult to assess his work and his position in the American art hierarchy without reference to the dynamism of New York in the 1960s, where he worked, lived, and formulated his ideas in those early years years of his career. A new world was being invented by a younger generation. Grace Glueck, New York Times art critic at the time said, “It was as though a new art movement was being invented everyday.” The war in Viet Nam was raging in high gear.There were endless demonstrations and marches. The New York art world in the 1960s was a fantastic cauldron of creativity: Cage, Cunningham, Johns, Lichtenstein, Marisol, Rainer, Rauschenberg (John’s partner over a seven-year period), Schneemann, Warhol. Without qualification, Jasper Johns could be described as “the old master of twentieth century American painting.” He has been a recognized major artist since his first one-man show at The Jewish Museum in New York in 1964. The Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago /Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence.
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