Untitled 2001

This untitled print was created by Jasper Johns, who was born in 1930, using etching. It has such a specific feel – the controlled chaos of Johns’s line work, as if he’s mapping an alternate dimension. I can imagine Johns bent over the plate, his brow furrowed in concentration, as he incises lines into the metal. Look at the textures he coaxes from the surface! The composition creates a tension between representation and abstraction. It has this lattice structure and some shadowy figures, almost like a memory flickering at the edge of perception. Then you've got that swirling vortex, a void pulling you in. Johns, like all of us, is in dialogue with artists of the past, present and future. He riffs off the imagery, the methods, the spirit of those who came before, transforming them into something entirely his own. This print is an invitation to embrace the unknown and to find beauty in ambiguity, leaving space for our own interpretations.