The Easel

5th October 2021

Jasper Johns

Blake Gopnik | 4Columns | 1st October 2021

In contrast to last week’s piece on Johns, this one focuses on the art. Starting out straight after abstract expressionism, Johns wanted to make art about real things. Are his celebrated flags ‘things’, or symbols of an idea? Do his ‘numbers’ pictures express a pure idea or are they objects borrowed from commercial art? This duality is the admirable aspect of Johns’ work. Less clear is whether, at some point, his art lost its cleverness and became a production of ‘things’.

The Quietly Rebellious Art of Iranian Women and What We Can Learn From Them

Susanna Schrobsdorff | Time | 20th September 2021

The organisers of this New York show have a point – Western images of Iran often focus on women in black chadors, living seemingly downtrodden lives. This, and other, misconceptions about Iran, apparently have added impetus to that country’s contemporary art. Tehran’s art scene is flourishing and women artists are prominent participants. They are philosophical about the restrictions they work under: “in Iran absolutely nothing is black and white”.

28th September 2021

Jasper and me

Jerry Saltz | Vulture | 22nd September 2021

Not so much a review of a huge Johns retrospective as a personal meditation on his enigmatic work. Johns rebelled against 1950’s abstract expressionism with radical work about “things the mind already knows … things seen and not examined”. It had a huge impact – “like the Beatles kicking out Elvis”, opening the door to important new art ideas. Johns, says the show’s curator, is “[perhaps] the most important living artist for more than 60 years”.

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