Face [trial proof 3/12 with pencil and ink additions] 1976

Curator: This is Jasper Johns' "Face [trial proof 3/12 with pencil and ink additions]" from 1976, a compelling work employing drawing and printmaking techniques with ink and graphite on paper. Editor: Immediately striking is the ghostly quality – like a faded memory or a face emerging from shadows. The overlay of geometric shapes lends an almost architectural feel, framing and fragmenting the subject. Curator: The composition, divided into planes and layers, deconstructs traditional portraiture. Notice how the obscured marks become an exploration of form and process. The visible construction lines contribute to a raw aesthetic, challenging conventional notions of artistic finish. Editor: Considering its creation in 1976, a time of increasing scrutiny towards established power structures, could we not read this fracturing as a representation of the individual under societal pressures? The "face" becomes a site where identity is both asserted and erased. Curator: Intriguing proposition. Certainly, this deliberate fragmentation reflects the Postmodern interest in dismantling unified narratives. But I also see a profound investigation of visual language. The contrasts between the loose ink washes and precise pencil lines are central. They reveal Johns' careful consideration of material properties and mark-making. Editor: Perhaps the ambiguity is the point. Postmodernism's key objective was questioning conventional norms, a pursuit clearly present in Jasper John’s experimentation with identity politics, a challenge to monolithic historical or individual narratives, by rendering a familiar form unfamiliar and challenging our perceptions. Curator: Precisely. This "trial proof," with its imperfections, emphasizes process over product, highlighting the conceptual underpinnings of Johns' art. Editor: Indeed. In viewing this image, the overlapping geometric figures generate ideas and thoughts on a subject, yet, through their incompleteness and imperfection, highlight identity as a spectrum, not simply a single form. It's less about presenting a definitive statement and more about inciting introspection.