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JASPER JOHNS

Jasper Johns is, in himself and through his art, an American icon.  When asked to write on him for this exhibition of prints, I was reluctant.  What more could be written?  So much has been said; just enter his name on the internet, the entries are endless.  What could I say?  As is my nature, I became curious: what made these prints extraordinary?  How could I explain and, most important, share my admiration for Johns?  I am interested and intrigued by the abstract qualities of the work: color, marks, gesture, shape, form, texture.  The visual vocabulary of art is the basis for modernism; no longer is the artist a copyist.  Like music, art has become an orchestration of pure elements; to be enjoyed for itself as a visual delight.  I admire the manipulation, magic and mystery seen in the prints of Jasper Johns.

The exhibition “Jasper Johns Prints: Things the Mind Already Knows” comes from the John and Maxine Belger Foundation.  Their collection contains the work of many fine artists with a remarkable focus on the work of a few ‘core’ artists:  Terry Allen, William Christenberry, Jasper Johns, Robert Stackhouse, Renee Stout, William Wiley and Terry Winters.  By comprehensive collecting of the work of these ‘core’ artists, the unique opportunity exists to view, in depth, their creative careers and artistic innovation; as evident in these prints by Jasper Johns.  According to Dick Belger, the artists are of interest because their work is a metaphor for their lives.  The collector feels that these artists take risks, pushing their art to limits, making that which is ordinary appear extraordinary.  Coincidentally, I admire the work of these artists.  I have known Bill Christenberry and Bob Stackhouse for over forty years; I have followed their careers and creativity and, as a museum director, exhibited their work.

I met with Dick Belger to find out more about the collection.  Dick says that he and his father John were encouraged to collect fine art by the gallery owner and arts advocate Myra Morgan in Kansas City, Missouri.  Prior to meeting Ms Morgan, they had been collecting cars, guns, coins and decorative arts like French cameo art glass and Tiffany glass; another remarkable and comprehensive group of work owned by the Foundation.  Belger recalls going to the home of a collector and seeing contemporary art hanging on the walls, including a large painting by James Rosenquist.  Until that moment, Dick thought art was only to be shown in museums not in private homes; in his words, “It was an epiphany”.  

I was fascinated to find out that the first work of contemporary art purchased by Dick Belger was by Jasper Johns: the 1971 lithograph “Fragment-According to What (Coat Hanger and Spoon)”.  There is much more to the story of the Foundation and its mission but I am writing of Jasper Johns.  Accordingly, I asked Dick about his interest in Johns and the reason for acquiring, in 1971, this particular print.  Belger responded,  "First of all, Jasper Johns was American, on the cutting edge, and living and working during my time; as opposed to the historical focus of my previous collecting with my father. It was clear to me he was looking at the world through a different set of eyes.  He was taking everyday, lowly objects, changing them and elevating them into art.  In learning that this print was one of several elements of the painting ‘According to What’, it showed how the artist takes an idea and re-works it over and over again to develop it into a different idea or viewpoint.  I knew my life had changed forever - I would never view it the same after buying that print."

Jasper Johns is one of the most important American artists of his time; he emerged in the late 1950’s and, to this day, his work is of change, challenge and controversy.  His paintings of flags, numbers, targets, maps and simple images, with pure paint and sensuous surfaces, made him famous.  He incorporated mixed media from plaster to encaustic in his paintings; he made sculptures and collages; he became one of the greatest of printmakers.  

Jasper Johns was born 1930 in Georgia; grew up in South Carolina; moved to New York; served in the Korean War; returned to Soho and, in 1954, painted his first flag.  In 1958, the famed dealer Leo Castelli presented his first one man show; that year, his work was shown at the Venice Biennale and the Pittsburgh Biennale.  He worked on performances with Robert Rauschenberg; an intense and short friendship. Johns was accepted, had arrived and continues as a major force and influence in American Art; these are the basic facts, much more has been written in books, catalogs and articles.  In 1997, the Museum of Modern Art presented a major retrospective of his work and a comprehensive publication “Jasper Johns”.   At the moment, through mid February ‘09, MOMA is presenting an exhibition from their collection of paintings, drawings and prints entitled “Focus: Jasper Johns”.  His work continues to intrigue, to be reevaluated and recognized throughout the world.

The story is told of Tatyana Grossman leaving lithography stones on Johns’ studio steps in 1960.  Johns, Rauschenberg and an assistant struggled to get them up the stairs; the rest is history.  Later that year, Johns produced his first published print “Target” with Tatyana, founder of  Universal Limited Art Editions (U.L.A.E.)  On a personal note, I visited her workshop, located on Long Island, in the mid 70’s; Bob Rauschenberg was working on a print.  In this small, somewhat remote studio, the revival of lithography occurred; with remarkable and innovative techniques. Initially, Johns may not have expressed an interest in making prints but he liked experimenting and messing around with media.  Most important, he realized that prints allowed him the opportunity for endless variations on the same theme; he became captivated by the printmaking process.  From one motif or image, he saw limitless possibilities.  Johns could make marks, erase them, add and change; the process of exploration and variation is obvious throughout his work.  His concern with the magic of the mark and the rich potential of surface becomes ever apparent.  Printmaking encouraged experimentation and repetition; moreover, the possibilities of challenging techniques fascinated the artist. 

Printmaking is a collaborative endeavor; Johns worked with master printmakers not only at U.L.A.E. but at other workshops including Gemini in Los Angeles.  The process of making prints is collaboration: the artist provides the ‘magic’ whereas ‘mastery’ of techniques comes from the master printer. In Johns’ case, each pushed and challenged the other; the resulting experimentation and innovation were revolutionary, changing the nature and potential of lithography, screen printing and etching.  Jasper Johns constantly challenges technical possibilities of printmaking.  For him, repetition and restatement offer fascinating ways to deal with sameness and difference, elements evident throughout his work. The artist admits his admiration for Paul Cezanne, the father of Modern Art, who pushed pictorial space in new ways; as Johns says, Cezanne “makes looking equivalent to touching”.  Another artist that is an influence is Marcel Duchamp who dealt with everyday objects, contradictions and paradoxes.  Mention should also be made of the tradition of trompe l’oeil painting for Johns does trick the eye into perceiving a false reality. 

The unique and comprehensive collection of Jasper Johns prints from the Belger Foundation offers a rare opportunity to see his prodigious influence on printmaking and the art of our time. The prints show the manipulation of surface, both spatially and sensuously, with visual variations, a pictorial music; sometimes complex compositions and, on other occasions, simple arrangements.  Many of the images are derived from his paintings; prints allow Johns the opportunity to explore infinite variations.  He transforms the image by using different media; experimenting with and exploiting the different printmaking processes. 

Printmaking is a process and an art form; the process can produce multiples of the same piece, which is a print, usually made on paper.  With the creativity, eye and hand of the artist, often working with a master printer, fine prints may be created; certainly that is true with Jasper Johns. Traditional techniques are lithography, serigraphy, etching and woodblock.  Johns pushes these techniques beyond their limits; his innovations changed the nature of printmaking. 

“Usuyuki” 1981 is a silkscreen or serigraph; with twelve screens, the imagery is complex and compelling with grids, circles, marks, and eccentric elements laid over newspaper print with a softness and subtlety of the color.  Like much of his work, the print is of deception and delight, puzzlement and pleasure.  “Green Angel 2” 1997, an intaglio or etching with six copper plates, is of darker hue with heavy shapes; wash and lines. The arrangements of shapes push visually outside the edge, adding to the complexity and contradiction.  The imagery seems abstract but the hint of lips and eyes add to the pleasurable paradox.  “Untitled” 1997 is an intaglio using one copper plate to produce compelling and complicated imagery.  The work is gray, a color that pervades the prints and paintings; an exhibition “Jasper Johns: Gray” was presented, a year ago, at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Even in this monochromatic print, the shades and hues are many as are the images: floor plan, ladders, stick figures combine in an imaginative intricacy; multilayered and mysterious. “Savarin” 1977 is a striking image with strong imagery, line, color and gesture.  The lithograph uses seventeen aluminum plates; the master printer Bill Goldston worked with Johns, as did other master printers over the years. Printmaking is a collaborative and creative process.

The prints reveal mastery of many media; Johns uses pencil, pen, brush, crayon, wax, plaster. The artist is constantly experimenting with printmaking; he challenges and changes process.  He likes to make washes, cut shapes and incise lines.  The imagery is equally complex.  The prints include flags, targets and numbers; symbols that became part of American Pop Art.  The numbers are fascinating in that the imagery was amongst the first of the prints, revealing the ability to make the mundane become magical.  With overlapping of numbers, Johns makes us think of sequence and repetition within terms of visual abstraction.  “Untitled” 1998 is a large print showing the letters of the primary colors, red, blue and yellow.  Paradoxically those colors, except blue, are not evident; yet there is complexity of imagery to intrigue the viewer.  The 1987 intaglios “The Seasons” render fascinating figurative imagery, an insight into an interior and self?  Jasper Johns offers the ultimate paradox of an artist: private yet public, reticent yet revealing.  His inner self, thoughts, fears and fantasies are there for us to see in his work; through these prints, we are offered glimpses into what his mind already knows.

The title of the exhibition, selected by curator Amanda Cooper, comes from the artist. Jasper Johns said, "Using the design of the American flag took care of a great deal for me because I didn't have to design it. So I went on to similar things like the targets---things the mind already knows. That gave me room to work on other levels."  This exhibition allows us to enjoy the many levels of his work: seductive surface, colorful contrasts, visual variations, aesthetic ambiguity and pure pleasure offered in the prints of Jasper Johns.

Roy Slade

Clearwater, Florida

January 2009.

Director Emeritus, Cranbrook Art Museum

Former Director, Corcoran Gallery of Art.