The Seasons [9th state (Winter)] 1989

Editor: So, this is Jasper Johns' "The Seasons [9th state (Winter)]" from 1989. It's a mixed-media print, seemingly dominated by etching techniques. The monochromatic palette gives it a certain melancholy feel, but there’s also a complexity in the textures and patterns. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see an engagement with the means of production, and, thereby, the means of cultural reproduction. Think about printmaking as a democratic art form. This print, specifically as the "9th state" of the image, embodies repetition with difference, a subtle critique perhaps about mass production in the art world. Look closely, what materials were used to create these effects, this supposed “melancholy?” Editor: I can see that. There’s the obvious printing, but also what looks like some collage or layering techniques to build up the textures. Almost like different printing plates, perhaps, each contributing a distinct pattern? How would you relate this method of layering to its title "The Seasons?" Curator: Indeed, the layers invite deeper inquiry into not just artistic but cultural "layers" and influences. For example, that monochrome coloring seems connected to traditional print media and older illustration styles. It's almost as though it represents a social snapshot, a certain nostalgia about what is gained or lost through progress. The idea of Winter can certainly suggest cultural themes of longing or decay, made palpable in his careful attention to his art's material and method. In your own study of art, how can you adopt material means as intellectual meaning? Editor: That’s interesting. It makes me think more about the artistic choices here. Appreciating it with a materialist lens has shown the means and methods are indeed meanings themselves. Curator: Precisely, engaging art from the point of view of materiality expands what we can comprehend about not only artwork, but the culture it comes from.