Face with Watch [proof black plate (rejected)] 1996

Jasper Johns made this proof black plate, a rejected print, using lithography. It’s an image of a frame, sort of, drawn with thick black lines on a white ground. The process of making it is really what grabs me. You can see the hand in it, that it's not a perfect rectangle, it has some strange decorative elements. There's a wiggle at the bottom, a kind of flourish. And at the top, near what would be the face in "Face with Watch", a series of jagged edges like a torn poster. It's fascinating to think about the idea of a rejected proof. What was Johns aiming for here? The lines are bold and unapologetic, but they also feel provisional, like a sketch. It reminds me a little bit of Ellsworth Kelly, with that interest in simple forms, but Kelly's work is often so sleek and precise. Here, Johns is embracing the imperfections, the accidental beauty of the process. The fact that it looks rejected makes it more interesting to me than it might otherwise be.