Yesterday was a crisp, chill, sunny day with oak and beech leaves glowing gold. We took ourselves to the Royal Academy in London to see the Jasper Johns exhibition. Johns is one of those artists whose work I have long admired, and yet I have actually seen very few pieces for real. A few here and there I saw in the USA, Tate has several, and I was fortunate to see an exhibition of his number pieces in Oxford many years ago.
I found this exhibition at the RA to be an excellent display, thematically organised, making the most of the workings and re-workings - the explorations and the re-visitings. I was keen to see the work he had done for Fiorades/Fizzles, the book with Samuel Beckett, and was delighted to see so much on display.
Usually one has to put up with one double page spread open - more images here - but the limited edition had included a set of flat prints for exhibition. Brilliant.
There was so much that was worth the visit, and even so we found the exhibition to be greater than its parts. It certainly made such an impact on me that I am still digesting, and find myself incapable of writing any more.
The collaboration with Samuel Beckett is enthralling. I followed your link to other images and found the texture and complexity of the images to be fascinating. Thank you, yet again, for introducing me to this new pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you were intrigued by the artwork, Margaret. I found the pursuit of his themes fascinating - and thoroughly enjoyed reading the Beckett text too.
DeleteWe went to see the exhibition last Friday, and like you, I loved it, Olga. It was a pleasure to see so much of his work, rather than the bits and pieces I had seen in the past.
ReplyDeleteI agree Eirene. It is an excellent exhibition. I suspect that I shall be savouring it for some time.
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