Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Indiana, Andy Warhol, and Martial Raysse, gathered in a room at Hirshhorn. Jasper Johns – 0 through 9: it’s a whole universe there, of digits, and of people, and of weird animals, and some birds, and funny, strange events. Digits defining people, people in metamorphosis to become animals and birds, a miraculous geometry of shapes, and colors, and white drops of snow, drops of snow in sudden metamorphosis to red. Drops of red snow. Near Jasper Johns, a Claes Oldenberg: this Ghost Version of a Soft Bathtub. It is interesting, I noted the head (so, the Ghost) only after taking the photo. Actually I noted the head only in the photo, I wasn’t able to observe it just watching the work. It’s an interesting point, and it goes well with the argument of photorealists, that one should start with a photo to get all interesting details of reality. Robert Indiana then, the wizard discovering icons in digits and words. Here building ironic icons: Beware-Danger American Dream. This artwork of Warhol that I had seen so many times in reproductions, now I was in front of it. Everything Warhol creates, he pours a drop of godness. On the opposite wall, another Oldenburg, this 7-UP that I knew from some art books. And finally this green Venus Made in Japan, laying on soft cushions. I felt I needed to record the whole in a video, to keep the memory forever: Warhol, Johns, Oldenburg, Indiana, Raysse.
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Jasper Johns: Ideas in Paint
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Jasper Johns Screenprints
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