Jasper Johns Painting the American Flag

Biographical Notes Born May 15, 1930 in Augusta, Georgia Childhood spent in South Carolina: “indefinite transfer and uprootedness” 1 ½ years at USC-Colombia 2 years of military service in Japan

“It occurred to me that there was a difference between going to be and being an artist.” (Artwork: “The Critic Sees”)

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“So I went on to things like [the flags] things the mind already knows. That gave me room to work on other levels” - J. Johns

What, then, is the central concern of Jasper Johns? One answer is perception. Of course, all painters are concerned with perception… But with Johns, the issues of perception – of what you see, and why, and how you decide what you are looking at – are not merely questions to be decided in order to produce some final effect. They are, instead, the focus of the work itself. There is no final effect beyond these issues.” – Michael Crichton

On flags and targets: “They’re both things which are seen and not looked at, not examined, and they both have clearly defined areas which could be measured and transferred to canvas.” -J. Johns

From Johns’s journal: “Take an object Do something to it Do something else to it”

Journal Questions: Explore the meaning of one of Jasper Johns’s flag paintings, with attention to the subject of the painting (the American flag) and the techniques used by the artist. (100 words)