In 1954–55, when he was 24, Jasper Johns destroyed all his previous work and made a painting that set his career on a new path: a faithful rendering of the US flag made with oil and encaustic. Its seemingly straightforward composition invited viewers to look closer: the collage of newsprint beneath the stars and stripes conveys snippets of everyday life; the fact that the flag comprises three separate canvases seems to capture the composite nature of a country of immigrants. This retrospective at the Guggenheim Bilbao highlights Johns’s resourcefulness and ingenuity as a painter and his ability to mine new meaning out of well-known signs, symbols and shapes (29 May–12 October). It takes us from early paintings of flags, maps, letters and numbers to the Catenary series (1997–2003), abstract works in which each composition takes its cue from the curve of a string hung from two points on the canvas. Along the way the show makes clear Johns’s versatility and openness to the artistic developments unfolding around him.
Find out more from the Guggenheim Bilbao’s website.
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