Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento

More documents

Recommendations

Info

<strong>Guerra</strong> 8 progresses. 23 With its purposefully weak attempts at mimicking Abstract Expressionist brush- strokes as well as its desecration of the integrity of the field (the title is scrawled across the front of the work), Painting with Two Balls is what John Loughery in the Hudson Review calls “good old- fashioned sass.” 24 Arguably the most influential works of Rauschenberg and Johns, however, were the works that ultimately influenced Pop Art through the use of culturally familiar media. These works (Rauschenberg’s Combines, specifically Untitled (1955) [Figure 7] and Johns Flag (1954-55) [Figure 8]) are truly the culmination of the artists’ shared ideas about the silence of the artist, the reactions to Abstract Expressionism, and the handling of political sexualized imagery. Rauschenberg’s Combines are perhaps some of his best-known works, and the time in which he was making them correlates to the time he was in a relationship with Johns. They were ultimately about what the viewer can bring to the piece, and Rauschenberg dedicated his first combine to Johns, perhaps as “a sign of his determining role in its development.” 25 One Combine in particular, Untitled (1955) is unmistakably soaked in Johns. It not only contains a photograph of Johns that Rauschenberg referred to as “gorgeous,” but also torn up letters from Johns, as well as a small drawing of an American flag – an homage to Johns’ art. 26 Beyond 23 Roberta Bernstein, Jasper Johns' Paintings and Sculptures, 1954–1974: The Changing Focus of the Eye, Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985: 141. 24 John Loughery, "Bits and Pieces," The Hudson Review 50, 1 (1997): 116. 25 Katz in Chadwick, 199. 26 Ibid., 201. 7) Robert Rauschenberg. Untitled, 1955. Combine painting. 15 1/2 x 20 3/4 in. Jasper Johns Collection.
<strong>Guerra</strong> 9 the somewhat intimate content of the piece, it also encompasses the idea of using culturally familiar objects such as post-cards, printed-paper (which would have been available to any and everyone), as well as text. Rauschenberg’s combines “are an accurate reflection of the historical situation of a society everywhere totalized by the forces of commodification and mass media.” 27 This appeal to the role of the viewer is mirrored in Johns’ Flag (1955), done the same year. The subject of the painting seems to be the American flag, however, the true subject is the neutrality of the object. A flag was “nobody’s preference; not even his own.” 28 The fact that the subject is familiar makes the viewer an active participant in the artwork – a very Johns-Rauschenberg concept. In addition, Flag is painted over scraps of newspaper and other pieces of print, so that one can almost read them. Yet another example of familiarized objects. 8) Jasper Johns, Flag, 1954-55. Encaustic, oil and collage on fabric mounted on plywood. 42 x 60 5/8 in. Gift of Philip Johnson in honor of Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Museum of Modern Art, New York. Rauschenberg and Johns’ mutual influence on each other is undeniably apparent in the work they produced during the time they were together, however, this influence continued long after they split up in 1961. The break-up devastated both artists. It was so painful, in fact, that the artists severed all contact for some time. Johns returned to his native South Carolina and retracted into the 27 Branden W. Joseph, "Random Order: Robert Rauschenberg and the Neo-Avant-Garde," Modernism/Modernity 12, 2 (2005): 168. 28 Leo Steinberg, Jasper Johns. New York: George Wittenborn, 1963: 8.
Page 1 and 2: Guerra 1 "Rauschenberg was the man
Page 3 and 4: For both men, the nature of their s
Page 5 and 6: 2) Jasper Johns. Target with Plaste
Page 7: 5) Robert Rauschenberg. Bed. 1955.
Page 11 and 12: Guerra 11 him that would break your
Page 13: Saltz, Jerry. "Our Picasso?" Villag

Guerra 1 - California State University, Sacramento

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?