Jasper Johns (1930-now) is an American artist best known his contribution to abstract expressionism and pop art. Wikipedia says,
"I think that one wants from painting a sense of life. And I think that is true. One wants to be able to use all of one's facilities in all aspects of one's life... You may have to choose how to respond and you may respond in a limited way, but you have been aware that you are alive." (Interview with Yoshiaki Tono, 1975)
"Sometimes I see it and then paint it. Other times I paint it and then see it. Both are impure situations, and I prefer neither. At every point in nature there is something to see. My work contains similar possibilities for the changing focus of the eye." (Sixteen Americans, 1959)
"Make something, a kind of object, which as it changes or falls apart (dies as it were) offers no clue as to what its state or form or nature was at any previous time. Physical and metaphysical. Obstinacy. Could this be a useful object?" (Book A (sketchbook), 1960)
"You get a lot by doing. It's very important for a young artist to see how things are done. The kind of exchange we had was stronger than talking. If you do something, then I do something thing, then you do something, it means more than what you say." (Quoted in New York Times, 1977)
"[Johns] is well known for his depictions of the American flag and other US-related topics... He started introducing text and numbers into his abstract paintings, such as Gray Numbers (1957) and False Start (1959)..." (Wikipedia: Jasper Johns, 7.29.21 UTC 19:23)The rest of this post is some quotes from Johns.
Art
"I think that one wants from painting a sense of life. And I think that is true. One wants to be able to use all of one's facilities in all aspects of one's life... You may have to choose how to respond and you may respond in a limited way, but you have been aware that you are alive." (Interview with Yoshiaki Tono, 1975)
"Sometimes I see it and then paint it. Other times I paint it and then see it. Both are impure situations, and I prefer neither. At every point in nature there is something to see. My work contains similar possibilities for the changing focus of the eye." (Sixteen Americans, 1959)
"Make something, a kind of object, which as it changes or falls apart (dies as it were) offers no clue as to what its state or form or nature was at any previous time. Physical and metaphysical. Obstinacy. Could this be a useful object?" (Book A (sketchbook), 1960)
"You get a lot by doing. It's very important for a young artist to see how things are done. The kind of exchange we had was stronger than talking. If you do something, then I do something thing, then you do something, it means more than what you say." (Quoted in New York Times, 1977)
