Research Trip -
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Jasper Johns: 'Something Resembling Truth'
23/09/17 - 10/12/17
'Something Resembling Truth' is a fascinating exhibition which spans the six decades of Jasper Johns' artistic career. His sense of irony and humour is clearly apparent throughout his work which holds resonance with me. Johns offers us new ways of seeing and experiencing things we know (flags, targets, flashlight, paintbrushes) and presenting these afresh with intelligent manipulation of materials. Duchamp's influence is apparent in much of the work which has been cleverly curated thematically, making sense of many layers of Johns' work. 'Bread' 2012 created using painted paper, lead, copper, wood and epoxy is a humorous sculpture. His take on the everyday create a sense of uncertainty, although mimicking reality, they provoke you to consider these objects again. I especially like Johns' use of mixed media and his playfulness in using colour and stencilled lettering for ambiguous meaning. 'False Start'1959 oil on canvas confronts what we see; yellow is coloured blue, blue is coloured orange, grey is coloured red. What is the real truth here? Is it the word or the colour of the painted word? Johns presents false start for our own interpretation and is a celebration of his wit. 
I was intrigued by Johns' method of painting ink on plastic. The painterly and printed quality of marks offers an interesting approach to image making and something I am keen to explore for my practice. Also John's autobiographical content throughout his work is of great interest to me and something I am trying to present within my own body of work. These can range from family photographs and actual objects from my everyday life, but also to reference the writers and artists that I regard highly.
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