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Voices on Art-Museum of Fine Arts, Houston-Jasper Johns: 100 Variations on a Theme

On September 27, 2019, for our series Voices on Art, in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houson, Art This Week Productions filmed this talk by Dena M. Woodall, associate curator, prints and drawings. This talk was filmed in conjunction with the exhibition, Jasper Johns: 100 Variations on a Theme, on view at the museum through February 16, 2020.

From the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston website–”In 1954, Jasper Johns began to paint flags, targets, alphabets, and other recognizable objects, creating a visual vocabulary that has reappeared in his art for nearly six decades. At a time when abstract styles of painting were considered the most avant-garde, his selection of ordinary objects as subject matter was a radical departure that established him as one of America’s most influential artists.

The exhibition Jasper Johns: 100 Variations on a Theme focuses on a series of 100 unique prints Johns created in 2015. The series was originally meant to accompany a special edition of his Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings and Sculptures. In the end, the idea was abandoned, and the beautiful sequence of works was liberated for exhibition viewing.

This talk explores the creation of the extraordinary series; why each impression is unique and cannot be replicated; and how the series continues and expands the recurring themes of Johns’s work.”

Thanks to Dena for allowing us to film the talk. Thanks also to the MFAH staff, especially Trey Ferguson, for their help recording this talk.


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