Jasper Johns Flag Analysis

Paintings are different than books or movies because they allow you to create your own thoughts and interpretations rather than telling you what you should think. This allows creative and different takes on an original piece of art.The Surrender, a painting by Joseph Griffith, was published in October of 2006. It features two sides in what appears to be a war. The left side is occupied by the epitome of American icons and showcases the American flag, while the left side contains, not only enemies of America, but “bad guys” from classic movies surrendering with a white flag. This painting can be interpreted as labeling popular American icons as heroes, showing the change in society’s change in what they consider a role model.

Artworks featuring the American flag can have different meanings, for example, Faith Ringgold's God Bless America and Jasper Johns Flag. The painting God Bless America was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s it’s an expression of the emotional and physical agony of African Americans, it’s also a comment on bigotry. It shows a woman behind bars, the bars being the red and white stripes of the American flag. The star on the woman's shoulder represents a sheriff's badge. The art is contradictory because it's both patriotic and racist. The painting Flag is more patriotic. It’s made out of an ancient Egyptian painting called encaustic which leaves lumps and smears asking viewers to consider the work of art and to ponder its meaning.

Pop Art emerged in Britain in the late 50’s and the United States in the early 60’s.(Mamiya 1992) Pop Art is generally known today as a representation of celebrating popular culture and consumerism, however it’s background and origins are far more broad and extensive. There are many factors and influences that lead to the creation of the Pop Art movement such as adjusting to life after World War II, new technological advances that lead to mass cooperate growth, the evolution of Abstract Expressionism and also social issues in the media such as feminism. (Smith 2001; Mamiya 1992) Many of these factors overlap and act as a catalyst in the creation of Neodadaism and eventually Pop Art. (Livingstone 1992) Pop Art does not have a soul distinct style nor just one major influence and this can be proven by looking at key artists of the movement such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist as well as female Pop artists such as Martha Rosler. (Brauer, Edwards, Finch & Hopps 2001) Exploring these artists and the major influences of their work will break down Pop Art and establish the movement’s purpose as well as its evolution.

Dread Scott definitely created a lot of controversy between people throughout the United States with his artwork “What is the Proper Way to Display a Flag.” People started communicating and discussing the artwork with one another. This definitely evoked a lot of people negatively. Americans were very upset to see this art displayed in a public museum. People starting discussing whether or not it was right to have the flag disrespected in this way. President Bush did not approve of the artwork at all saying that it was “disgraceful” and made him worry about the idea of freedom of speech (Scott, n.d.). This artwork inspired the government to outlaw “displaying the flag of the United States on the floor or ground.” (Scott, n.d.).

What do you do when you see the flag? Do you take off your hat and put your right hand on your heart and sing the National Anthem? While you do this, think of the men who fought for our freedom. They helped us get the freedom to do what we want and not get told what to do. The freedom we have today is all because we won the wars and we earned our freedom. The flag represents our freedom that we have today. America is the free country and we have the freedom of speech! We don’t have to worry about starvation or the lack of water because in Africa, they have some freedom and little water. Every day, we have the freedom to go to whatever store we want. We can wear what we want and do what we want

The American Flag is the most widespread symbol Americans have. It took a disaster to make me realize how important it is. I would always wave the flag in a parade or on the Fourth of July, but I never really stopped to think about what I was doing. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 are what changed my view. They caused me to reflect about our country and the value of saying, “I am an American.” After September 11th, there was an explosion of patriotism. Flags were bought and hung everywhere out of pride. The flag represents our country and all of the rights and privileges that we have in the United States, hanging it gave us the strength to move on. People see the flag everyday, yet how many of them actually stop and think

1. The flag represents the unity that this country has worked so hard on throughout its entire history. From the willingness of the 13 diverse colonies to join together to the struggle of reconstructing the fractured country after the Civil War, America has long been an example of the power of unity, and the flag truly embodies this idea. When immigrants coming from broken and war-ridden countries see the American flag flying high, it gives them assurance that there are hope and harmony in the United States. Furthermore, the flag is a symbol of the patriotism that Americans have held dear to them ever since the birth of

The Flag of the United States practically owns us. We committed to be owned when we first became citizens, and that flag means a lot to me and my family.

Explained by the author, Judy Bray Garrison, the opinion section of the Morning Call is begging the question in this type of fallacy by assuming everyone knows the American flag represents proper respect for the United States men and women who served our country in order to defend our freedom. There are different meanings by the way the flag is display known as the “flag code” that spells out the protocol to define how to demonstrate respect. Students in school should return to stating the pledge of allegiance to their flag and break down the sentences to learn the sacrifices made for which it stands. When children destroy a display of 250 flags while laughing at the sight, showing disrespect to those who took the time and money to purchase

The American flag means so many things to me. It represents that our country has strength, power and freedom. We are free land and can go anywhere and no be judge. We can thank our Army, Military, Air Force, etc. We are very blessed and privileged because other counties can even go out of their houses without getting shot. We live in a country that is Home of the Brave.

This work by Brad Kayal titled Job Creators is a screen-print, which features the notable Monopoly Man marching over the United States flag. This piece seems to convey the gleeful Monopoly Man almost waving America and its people onward into the next chapter of their history. However the lack of fine lines and detail paired with a slight wave in the flag lead the audience to notice the worn state of each element in the work. The Artist does this in such away that it clearly presents both the Monopoly Man and old glory in light that can only be summed up that each has been around the block and have both experienced life’s hardships, but none the less have gotten to achieve their current status. The classic nature of both the American Flag and

Non-conformist to traditional art forms, Conceptualism challenges the viewer to delve into the mindset of the artist. It is often seen as multidimensional as it forces the audience to decipher the artists intentions. This art movement has been completely rejecting the standard ideas of art since the mid-1960’s. Since then, many artists have made a name for themselves by self-consciously expanding the boundaries of art. Many of these artists have said they’ve linked their work to artist Marcel Duchamp.

Dada was an artistic and literary movement, this arose as a reaction to World War one. Many citizens believed that Dada was actually the cause of World War one, this movement likes to take the form of ‘anti-art’. Therefore, how you can claim everything is art but in reality, nothing is art. For example, take the painting ‘Fountain’ by a Dadaist painter Marcel Duchamp it is a readymade painting of an unused urinal. Which is basically implying that he rejected art and thought that we should focus on the artist 's idea more rather than it being crafted. Therefore, using a urinal and labelling it as ‘art’, get’s Duchamp’s point across that a work of art should be the artists idea instead of it being crafted. When looking at Dadaism by Tristan Tzara, there were some interesting quotes. For example, “Like everything in life, Dada is useless. Dada is without pretension, as life should be.” (Tzara, 1918). This quote intrigues me, as Tzara is stating that all art is useless and that Dada is pretension and that is how life should be. This can be used as an example of how Dadaism was inspired by

In 1953, Robert Rauschenberg had the idea of adding drawing to his All White Series. However, drawing on these paintings, or anywhere, would defeat the purpose of this series, and so he came to the conclusion that the only way he could achieve this would be through erasure. He began experimenting with his own drawings, but still being a young artist it he didn’t think it would be considered art. For his idea to work, he thought, it had to be art that he erased. Having admiration and respect for artist Willem de Kooning, Rauschenberg decided to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels, and go to his house. Rauschenberg explained to de Kooning his idea, and asked if he could use a drawing of his. Reluctant, de Kooning agreed, only because he understood the idea. After looking through his portfolios, de Kooning handed Rauschenberg a drawing that he would miss, and that was almost impossible to erase. A month later, Rauschenberg successfully erased de Kooning’s drawing, and with the help of Jasper Johns, titled the piece in ink, and framed it. Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing can be seen as either a minimalist piece or conceptual piece. Through a clearer understanding of both movements, the aim of this essay is to show how this piece could be seen as a minimal piece or a conceptual piece, and to see which movement it leans more towards.

In a ‘tradition breaking spirit’ [D’Alleva, 2012], that characterised modernist artists, early in the twentieth century, Duchamp abandoned traditional ideas and techniques, to create a new kind of ‘art’, one that the idea behind a work of art is more important that its visual realization, the ‘retinal’. The ready-mades was the product of Duchamp’s questioning what art is.