Untitled [2nd state] 1997

This lithograph, Untitled [2nd state], was made by Jasper Johns, and like many of his works, it plays with layering and juxtaposition. I can imagine Johns in his studio, methodically transferring images onto the lithographic stone. He’s arranging different elements—architectural plans, a drawing of figures, a ladder—carefully layering these diverse elements and seeing how they speak to each other, searching for new connections. The architectural plans have been carefully rendered, while other areas seem looser, more gestural. I see a play between control and accident, precision and intuition. Johns is like an architect, a draughtsman, and a poet all rolled into one. He uses established symbols to build new meanings. Johns was in conversation with the art of his time, and this piece makes me think of Rauschenberg and Twombly, of earlier artists like Duchamp, all playing with found imagery to make art that asks questions rather than providing answers. That’s what’s so great about art, it’s an open-ended conversation across time and space.