Jasper Johns

Born on May 15, 1930 in Augusta Georgia, Jasper Johns is one of the most renowned American pop artists of his era. He spent much of his early life stationed in Japan with the United States Army. Later, he became a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Johns’ first major piece was a painting he did in 1954 entitled Flag (Jasper Johns 1). It is simply a reproduction of the American flag on canvas. Much of his early work was of plain, flat symbols. He did so because he found that “he did not have to design them…they were ‘things the mind already knows. That gave [him] room to work on other levels’” (Crichton 1). The painting to be discussed in this paper is one of his simple works as mentioned above. It is entitled Target with Four Faces, and it was completed in 1955.

Target with Four Faces is mainly a design piece. It is made up of sharp curves and lines. Most of the lines are thick, others are horizontal as well. The circles of the target in the lower half are practically perfect around. He uses several shapes in his work, including rectangles and squares (in the plaster faces up top) and circles (in the target). The color group used in Target with Four Faces is that of the triadi

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Other than those, there really are no other objects.

With the basic facts represented, the next thing to look at is the design of Target with Four Faces. He has given me a totally new approach to my own artwork, and I believe that he deserves the reputation which has aptly been given to him. Jasper Johns has definitely mastered this feat. The lightest area can be found in the yellow rings of the target, while the darkest area is found in the blue rings. Instead, these rings lie on the rule of thirds, as all focal points should. Johns’ repetition of circles in the target gives his piece a great sense of repetition. The target does not have much depth to it, if any at all. Since it is a simple piece, it has symmetrical balance for the most part. The eye is definitely drawn directly to the middle of the target and the yellow rings around it at first glance. The target and the background are made up of solid reds, yellows, and blues. So why did Jasper Johns create this? What did he have in mind when painting it? “The ambiguities and contradictions inherent in painting an abstraction with such a beautiful and painterly technique became the focus of critical comment” (Crichton 2). While it may be in the middle of the target, it is certainly not in the middle of the composition. The four faces at the top are symmetrical, as well as the target on the lower half.

Approximate Word count = 803
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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