Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johnsis an American painter and printmaker...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPop Artist
Date of Birth15 May 1930
CityAugusta, GA
CountryUnited States of America
change mind sometime
Sometime during the mid-50s I said, 'I am an artist.' Before that, for many years, I had said, 'I'm going to be an artist.' Then I went through a change of mind and a change of heart. What made 'going to be an artist' into 'being an artist', was, in part, a spiritual change.
knew none somewhere
The only logical thing I can think of is that I knew there were such things as artists, and I knew there were none where I lived. So I knew that to be an artist you had to be somewhere else. And I very much wanted to be somewhere else.
humor work
I wish there were more humor in my work than I see in it.
absence attack early involved notion object work
At first I had some idea that the absence of color made the work more physical. Early on I was very involved with the notion of the painting as an object and tended to attack that idea from different directions.
taken artist confusion
As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken. Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities, which may seem a freedom or a confusion.
looks use way
I'm not looking for images, They just appear and take on an interest. Sometimes you look at a thing and it has no interest and then you see it in a different way and it has another meaning. Or something that was of no use will become useful.
ideas different painting
Early on I was very involved with the notion of the painting as an object and tended to attack that idea from different directions.
ideas way
I often find that having an idea in my head prevents me from doing something else. Working is therefore a way of getting rid of an idea.
passion ideas imagination
One's range [of ideas] is limited by one's interests and imagination and by one's passion.
balls use boards
Put a lot of paint & a wooden ball or other object on a board. Push to the other end of the board. Use this in a painting. - ruler on board.
ideas may painting
There may or may not be an idea, and the meaning may just be that the painting exists.
self-esteem self description
To me, self-description is a calamity.
feelings want exposure
I don't want my work to be an exposure of my feelings.
want way cubism
Cubism is an anatomical chart of a way of seeing external objects. But I want to confuse the meaning of the act of looking.