b. 1930

Jasper Johns was born in Augusta Georgia and served in the US Military during the Korean War. He studied for a short period of time at the University of South Carolina before moving to New York to pursue artmaking. In New York, Johns befriended Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage who all had a profound impact on eachother’s artwork. Rauschenberg and Johns became close friends as both were drawn to found objects, collage, and readymade materials. 

Johns is a key figure in the Neo-Dada movement. This group of artists was interested in re-contextualized cultural symbols and signs. In one of Johns’ most well known pieces Flag,(1954-1955) he combined paper, fabric, and paint to abstract and nullify the meaning of the American Flag. Johns is considered one of the most important printmakers and painters of the twentieth century.

Jasper Johns’ work is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Tate Gallery in London, and many other major institutions.