Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns (Augusta, Georgia, May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, and graphic artist.

Biography

She was born in Augusta, Georgia and grew up in Allendale, South Carolina. He studied at the University of South Carolina for three semesters between 1947 and 1948, before moving to the Parsons School of Design in New York in 1949. There he met Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham and John Cage, with whom he began to develop his work. In 1952 he was stationed in Sendai, Japan, during the Korean War.In 1969 he received the Vincent van Volkmer Award.

Work

His best-known work worldwide is the encaustic flags of the United States in the 1950s. Other symbols, such as letters, numbers, and targets, appear recurrently in his paintings and engravings. He did numerous 'grey' paintings, which he began with color to eventually cover the entire canvas with gray. Around 1960 he began to integrate real objects such as hangers, forks and spoons into his paintings. In the 1980s, he reinvented his painting style.

He is considered, along with Robert Rauschemberg, a promoter of Neo-Dadaism, although his artistic production ranges between Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism and Pop Art.

His works are part of the collections of the most important art museums in the United States and Europe, such as the National Gallery of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Gallery and Pompidou Center.

Links

• Jasper Johns official site (in English)
• Jasper Johns: An Allegory of Painting, 1955–1965, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
• States and Variations: Prints by Jasper Johns at the National Gallery of Art