Figuring Jasper Johns / Fred Orton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Orton, Fred.

Series:

Essays in art and culture

Essays in art and culture.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Johns, Jasper, 1930---Criticism and interpretation.

Johns, Jasper.

Johns, Jasper, 1930---Philosophy.

Johns, Jasper, 1930-.

Deconstruction.

Philosophy.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

248 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion Books, 1994.

Summary:

Few contemporary artists have made this problem quite as interesting -- and as provocative -- as has Jasper Johns. The matter of meaning, for painter and viewer alike, is crucial to this book, a deeply felt and richly considered attempt to come to terms with one of the most challenging artists of our day. Fred Orton's reading of Johns's oeuvre focuses on three key works -- Untitled (1972), Flag (1954-5), and Painted Bronze (1960). Adroitly combining formal theoretical analysis and historical reflection, Orton explores each painting until the distinction between 'picture' and 'context' dissolves and his subject appears in a wholly new frame. He considers Johns's work as allegory and assesses the value and effect of doing so. A practical demonstration of how theory can work to generate new interpretations and unsettle old ones (some of them the product of Johns's own mythologizing), this book offers the clearest and most penetrating picture yet of Jasper Johns and in the process contributes considerably to the continuing rethinking of art history.

Contents:

Beginnings 7

1 Present, the Scene of My Selves, the Occasion of these Ruses 17

2 A Different Kind of Beginning 89

3 Figuring Jasper Johns 147.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0948462582

0948462574

OCLC:

31279988