Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns, Jr. (born May 15, 1930 in Augusta, Georgia) is a leading proponent of the American school of Pop Art. Best known for his painting Flag (1954). Often described as a 'Neo-Dadaist', in distinction to Pop, because his subject matter is usually not popular culture; Instead his work typically includes mundane symbols or two dimensional objects as flags, maps, targets, letters and numbers. Obvious inspiration is from Marcel Duchamp and Charles Demuth. The treatment of the surface is often lush and painterly, including such media as encaustic (wax-based paint), or even plaster relief. The contrast between the graphical symbolic subject matter and the loosely handled surface causes into question whether a painting can be what it depicts. He also produces sculptures and lithographs with similar motifs.