Untitled 2001

This untitled print was made by Jasper Johns with etching and aquatint, a process of layering acid on a metal plate to create texture and tone. Johns is a master of surfaces, and here, he creates a world of grays, from the solid stripes on the left to the ghostly family portrait on the right. I am particularly drawn to how Johns merges the abstract and the representational. See how he lays down that aquatint, almost like a fog, and then carefully places images, each with their own history, like objects in a dream. It's not about perfection but about the push and pull between intention and accident, very process-oriented. Johns’s use of found imagery reminds me of Rauschenberg, his contemporary, but there’s a different feel. Johns is more inward, reflective. He isn't telling us what to think, but inviting us to engage in a visual conversation.