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Jasper Johns : the business of the eye

by Barbara Hess

Common symbols reinterpreted Though his work is often categorized as Pop Art for its use of popular iconography and household objects, Jasper Johns can also be described as a Neo-Dadaist.

Accession 9783822851715 ISBN 9783822851715 Publisher TASCHEN

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spine_text: JOHNS Barbara Hess TASCHEN

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Topics and Themes

1. **Pop Art & Everyday Iconography**
Johns sits at the intersection of Pop Art and Neo-Dada, elevating mundane, pre-existing symbols — flags, targets, numbers, letters, and maps — into fine art. The book examines how familiar imagery is stripped of its automatic function and made strange through the act of painting.

Connect to books about: Pop Art history, consumer culture and art, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, semiotics of everyday objects.

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2. **Neo-Dada & the Rejection of Artistic Emotion**
Hess frames Johns as a Neo-Dadaist who deliberately works against the Abstract Expressionist belief that painting should convey raw emotion. His cool, detached stance is itself a radical artistic statement.

Connect to books about: Dada movement, anti-art philosophy, Marcel Duchamp, found objects and readymades.

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3. **Abstract Expressionism & Its Discontents**
The book traces Johns' complex relationship with Abstract Expressionism — acknowledging its influence while showing how he resisted and subverted its core principles, helping to open the door for new movements.

Connect to books about: Abstract Expressionism, Clement Greenberg, art criticism, post-war American painting, Willem de Kooning.

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4. **Mixed Media & the Boundaries Between Painting and Sculpture**
Johns used encaustic (wax-based paint), plaster relief, collage, and commonplace physical objects like brooms and rulers, achieving a sculptural texture that challenged the flat conventions of painting.

Connect to books about: mixed media art, encaustic technique, assemblage art, the history of sculpture, materiality in art.

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5. **Symbolism, Signs & the Language of Art**
Recurring motifs — flags, targets, numerals, letters, maps — are not merely decorative but act as visual signs that probe the relationship between representation and reality. Hess explores how Johns questions what it means to "see" a symbol versus to "read" it.

Connect to books about: semiotics, visual language, iconography, the philosophy of representation, Roland Barthes.

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6. **American Identity & National Symbols**
The American flag is Johns' most iconic subject, and its repeated appearance raises questions about patriotism, cultural memory, and what national symbols actually mean when subjected to artistic scrutiny.

Connect to books about: American cultural identity, nationalism and imagery, the politics of symbols, postwar American society.

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7. **Artist Biography & the Creative Trajectory**
Hess provides a chronological account of Johns' life and development as an artist, showing how personal history, artistic influences, and cultural context shaped his evolving body of work over decades.

Connect to books about: artist biographies, creative development, the New York art world, art patronage and the market.

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8. **The Art Market & Collecting**
The book touches on Johns' enormous commercial and institutional value — his works commanding tens of millions of dollars at major museums — raising questions about how financial worth and artistic significance intersect.

Connect to books about: the art market, art valuation, museum collecting, cultural economics, the commercialization of contemporary art.

Jasper Johns : the business of the eye

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