Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento

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perceived sincerity practically impossible. The exploration of this idea is evident in Rauschenberg’s Factum I and Factum II (1957) [Figure 3], and Johns’ False Start (1959) [Figure 4]. In Rauschenberg’s Factum I and Factum II (1957), this fabricated sincerity is executed in the duplication of strokes and gestures, making their spontaneity obviously impossible. 18 The same sort of impossible sincerity is evident in Johns’ False Start (1959), an “Abstract Expressionist color field 4) Jasper Johns, False Start, 1959. Oil on canvas170.8 x 137.2 cm (67 1/4 x 54 in.) Private collection, New York. <strong>Guerra</strong> 6 3) Robert Rauschenberg, Factum I and Factum II, 1957. Combine paintings. 155.9 x 90.2 cm (61 3/8 x 35 1/2 in.). Museum of Modern Art, New York. labeled with unmatched color names.” 19 The field itself is seemingly expressionist and spur-of-the- moment, but the carefully stenciled words, discordant to their respective colors, mock “emotional authenticity,” and create “an Abstract Expressionist picture that is manifestly untrue.” 20 The almost camp-like humor of this brave confrontation of Abstract Expressionism is highly Rauschenberg, the older artist being the more outgoing, humorous individual. Rauschenberg and Johns, having “moved out of Abstract Expressionism” together, began their departure with a rejection of the representation of the artist’s 18 Barbara Rose, “Pop Art at the Guggenheim,” in Steven H. Madoff, Pop Art: A Critical History, 83. 19 Katz in Chadwick, 204. 20 Ibid.
5) Robert Rauschenberg. Bed. 1955. Oil, pencil on pillow, quilt, sheet on wood supports, 6' 3 1/4 x 31 1/2 x 8 in. MoMa New York <strong>Guerra</strong> 7 “inner truth” and continued it with a good-natured mockery of content and parody of style. The two not only parodied Abstract Expressionism aesthetically, but they also used it as a means to explore the concept of homosexuality. This topic, rendered in a mockery of Abstract Expressionist style as well, was an example of how Johns and Rauschenberg (according to Rauschenberg), “‘gave each other permission,’” both artistically as well as sexually. Rauschenberg’s Bed (1955) [Figure 5] has been connected with sexuality in that it is a reconfiguration of the Abstract Expressionist linking of aesthetics and sexual politics. Reviews of Bed “claimed that the piece resembled nothing so much as the sight of a rape, or maybe even a murder.” 21 Johns’ Painting with Two Balls (1960) [Figure 6], is a little more overt in its assertion of homoeroticism. The “two balls” of the title refer to actual wooden balls inserted into the structure of the piece and recall the essence of maleness. The piece is painted in Abstract Expressionist gestures, as if directly confronting the Abstract Expressionist hostility toward homosexuality. 22 Johns’ works of this time are much more vocal than his earlier work. We begin to see him adopt more “Rauschenberg ways of doing things” as their relationship 21 Katz in Chadwick, 205. 22 Ibid,, 203. 6) Jasper Johns. Painting with Two Balls,1960. Encaustic and collage on canvas with objects 65 x 54 in. Collection of the artist.
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Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento

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