Simple mind
Johns’ Flag paintings rank among US art’s real game-changers. Johns worked a switcheroo on the 1950s’ prevailing style. In place of the abstract expressionists’ romanticised soul-baring globs of paint, the upstart created a straightforward, likeness of the flag.
The real thing
This is more than one in the eye to the ab-ex gang and their aggrandising myths of creative genius on canvas. It raises questions about representational art and its place in the world. Is it a painting of a flag or an actual flag? Where does illusion end and reality begin?
I have a dream
Johns was a total unknown when he was said to have dreamed about painting the flag. His studio-mate Robert Rauschenberg thought it an excellent idea. A chance visit from the seminal dealer Leo Castelli secured his first show and made him an overnight star.
Capture the flag
The subject matter is hardly neutral, not least for a recently discharged former soldier such as Johns. Then, as now, the flag was a double-edged symbol. With the cold war raging, it was either a banner for patriotism or a cloak for muddied values and oppression.
Jasper Johns: Something Resembling Truth is at Royal Academy of Arts, W1, until 10 December
