Jasper Johns

Related Content

• Visual Arts: The Greatest Hits of Gay Art at TAM
  April 11, 2012
• You Spin Me Round: The Ten Best Songs About Records
  October 5, 2011
• Now Hanging: Jasper Johns @ The Henry
  October 12, 2009
• Yuki Nakamura
  January 13, 2010
• The Weekly Wire: This Week’s Recommended Events
  July 29, 2009

More About

• Jasper Johns
• Henry Darger
• Thomas Edison
• George Booth

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Artistic obsessions can run too far (see: Henry Darger, children) or just far enough (Monet, water lilies). The Light Bulb series by Jasper Johns belongs to the second camp. He began sketching bulbs in the late ’50s, then created multiple versions in sculpture, crayon, and paint for the next 20 years. As in his famous Target series, there’s something about the simple, utilitarian shape that invites iteration. The bulb, socket threads, switch, and cord are so unadorned, so neutral in their meaning. The humble glowing orb suggests the genius of Thomas Edison and the cartoons of George Booth. It can signify anything and nothing, this found pop object; Johns called it a “thing the mind already knows.” Your kids understand it, and probably your dog, too. It’s either on or off but never in between. It’s in a state of being, not becoming. So long as there’s current, it simply exists. And in opposition, there’s just darkness. BRIAN MILLER
Saturdays, Sundays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursdays, Fridays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Starts: July 11. Continues through Oct. 25, 2009