Jasper Johns: Night Driver

The definitive volume on Jasper Johns, covering over seven decades of production

Published with Museo Guggenheim Bilbao.

This volume provides a sweeping overview of American artist Jasper Johns' (born 1930) life and work. A giant of postwar art, Johns' analytical and self-reflexive work contributed to the development of Pop art, Minimalism and Conceptual art. He is best known for depicting quotidian symbols in a variety of mediums, including oil, ink, pencil, collage and relief. Indeed, Johns' oeuvre attests to his tireless experiments with representation and mark-making.
This volume traces the artist's production across seven decades, highlighting key motifs realized through paintings, drawings and prints. From his iconic flag, target, number and map paintings of the 1950s; to his abstract crosshatch design and art historical citations of the '70s and '80s; to his complex, layered late works, which often build upon previous themes. Titled after a 1960 charcoal, pastel and collage drawing on paper, Night Driver guides readers through the artist's recursive, yet ever-evolving corpus. The monograph opens with three illustrated essays on Johns--one of which is penned by Irish novelist Colm Tóibín--and concludes with a conversation between Johns and painter Terry Winters.