Jasper Johns: Redo an Eye

My work is largely concerned with relations between seeing and knowing, seeing and saying, seeing and believing.Jasper Johns, 1965

Spanning over 60 years of Jasper Johnss (b. 1930) prolific career, this spectacular publication is the most comprehensive and definitive study of the artists work to date. Written by noted Johns expert Roberta Bernstein, the book explores the synergy between continuity and change in the development of the artists work through 2014. The text is enlivened by the voluminous insight Bernstein has gained over decades of knowing the artist, and she incorporates Johnss own unique manner of talking about his art through interviews and public statements. Each chapter is focused on a specific time period and its prevailing themes in Johnss paintings and sculptures, and throughout the book related drawing and prints are referenced as contributions to an advanced understanding of the work.

The books compelling subtitle (the phrase appears, camouflaged, in Johnss 1966 painting Passage II), indicating an eye and an exhortation to redo it, neatly summarizes a persistent aspect of Johnss art.  His worksat turns ambiguous, ironic, and poignantsimultaneously engage the visual senses and challenge habits of perception. Jasper Johns: Redo an Eye is a thoughtful celebration of how Johnss art inspires the viewer to resist habits of perception, in turn affecting the way one experiences and interacts with the world: the hallmark of an extraordinary artist. 

Published in association with the Wildenstein Plattner Institute See more