Untitled 2001

This is an untitled print by Jasper Johns, made with etching and aquatint. It’s a tonal piece, where beiges and creams play off each other. Looking at it, I can almost feel Johns working on the plate, trying things out, shifting elements around. See how the various forms of abstraction offer different ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world? There's a real sense of inquiry here, where the act of making is the subject itself. The sweeping lines at the bottom are so evocative, and the images, each like a fragment of memory, hang in this field. I can’t help but think of Rauschenberg’s use of found imagery, or even Cy Twombly’s scribbled surfaces. Johns is in conversation with them, with all of art history, really. Each artist building on the last, embracing ambiguity, and inviting us to find our own meanings in the work.