Untitled 2000

This untitled print by Jasper Johns features the Rubin vase in black, white and blue ink on paper. It's a trial proof, so it probably came into being slowly, a back and forth between the artist and the stone, each one seeing what the other had to offer. I can imagine Jasper Johns looking at the vase and thinking about perception, the way our minds play tricks on us. I mean, is it two faces or is it a vase? It’s like he’s saying, "Hey, let's question what we see!" The flat surface emphasizes the ambiguity of the image. Then the introduction of the blue cross-hatching disrupts the reading of the faces even more. It has the feel of work by artists like Josef Albers who also made work that explores how we see. It’s a reminder that art is a conversation across time and space and that ambiguity can be a powerful tool for making us think.