Jasper johns biography artist mary

Jun 23, 2016

Jasper Johns artwork can be understood as being abstract, although his approach is usually descibed as representational. The artist is usually associated with the The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis which has 434 Jasper Johns artworks in its permanent collection. Among them are several of Johns’ flag pieces. Upon seeing a single Johns flag, especially one that mimics the colors of the true flag, a viewer could easily take it at face value, interpreting it only as a picture of an American flag and nothing more. But seeing the pieces in multiple—one done entirely in silver, one featuring two flags side by side, one a screenprint, one that’s painterly, one that’s sculptural, and one that features the addition of a vase over the flag—the meaning of the flag as a symbol becomes less clear. This experience, of viewers questioning the meaning of a well-known symbol, is at the heart of abstract art, and of what Jasper Johns hoped his artwork would achieve.

Jasper Johns Artwork - Symbolic Representation

Johns painted his first Flag paintings in 1954, the same year the Army-McCarthy hearings were held in the US Senate. It was a time when every American was under pressure to declare their patriotism. The American flag was at the height of its objective meaning and its power as an aesthetic object. To those who loved America and saw the flag as something to be revered it could have been seen as blasphemy to paint an image of the flag, especially one that was incorrectly positioned. Or to those sympathetic to the citizens who were being harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, Johns’ flags could have been interpreted as a revolutionary political statement.

Johns made no explanation of the meaning of his flag paintings whatsoever. He simply appropriated the most potent symbol in the American visual lexicon and used it in his work. By painting it a variety of different ways and in a variety of d

For the Welsh Liberal politician, see Jasper Wilson Johns. For the English soccer player, see Jasper Johns (footballer). For the non-fiction book by Michael Crichton, see Jasper Johns (book).

Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and pop art movements.

Johns was born in Augusta, Georgia, and raised in South Carolina. He graduated as valedictorian from Edmunds High School in 1947 and briefly studied art at the University of South Carolina before moving to New York City and enrolling at Parsons School of Design. His education was interrupted by military service during the Korean War. After returning to New York in 1953, he worked at Marboro Books and began associations with key figures in the art world, including Robert Rauschenberg, with whom he had a romantic relationship until 1961. The two were also close collaborators, and Rauschenberg became a profound artistic influence.

Johns's art career took a decisive turn in 1954 when he destroyed his existing artwork and began creating paintings of flags, maps, targets, letters, and numbers for which he became most recognized. These works, characterized by their incorporation of familiar symbols, marked a departure from the individualism of Abstract Expressionist style and posed questions about the nature of representation. His use of familiar imagery, such as the American flag, played on the ambiguity of symbols, and this thematic exploration continued throughout his career in various mediums, including sculpture and printmaking.

Among other honors, Johns received the Golden Lion at the Venice B

Personal

Born May 15, 1930, in Augusta, GA; son of Jasper (a farmer) and Jean (Riley) Johns. Education: Attended University of South Carolina, 1948-49; attended commercial art school in New York, NY, 1949.

Addresses

Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Leo Castelli Gallery, 420 West Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Career

Painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Bookstore salesman and window display artist, New York, NY, 1952-59. Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, director, 1963—; Merce Cunningham Dance Company, New York, NY, ballet designer in productions, including Walkabout, 1968, Second Hand, 1970, TV Re-Run, 1970, Borst Park, 1972, and Un Jour ou Deux, 1973. Exhibitions: Individual exhibitions: Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, NY, 1958, 1960-61, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1976, 1984; Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France, 1959, 1961; Galleria d'Arte del Naviglio, Milan, Italy, 1959; Tweed Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, 1960; Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina, SC, 1960; Everett Ellin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1962; Galerie Ileana Sonnabend, Paris, 1962; Jewish Museum, New York, NY, 1964; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, England, 1964; Pasadena Museum of Art, CA, 1965; Minami Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 1965; American Embassy, London, 1965; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England, 1965; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1966; Galerie Ricke, Cologne, Germany, 1968; Galerie Buren, Stockholm, Sweden, 1968, 1972; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, 1968, 1970-71, 1972, 1996-97; Castelli Graphics, New York, NY, 1969, 1971, 1976-77, 1980, 1982; Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, 1969, 1979; University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1969; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, 1969; Castelli-Whitney Gallery, New York, NY, 1969; David Whitney Gallery, New York, NY, 1969; New Gallery, Cleveland, OH, 1970; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, 1970; University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1970; Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland, 1971; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, 1971; Day