Jasper Johns Quotes about Painting

There may or may not be an idea, and the meaning may just be that the painting exists.

Ideas, May, Painting

Most of the power of painting comes through the manipulation of space... but I don't understand that.

Space, Manipulation, Painting

I think a painting should include more experience than simply intended statement.

Thinking, Painting, Should

Kirk Varnedoe, Jasper Johns (1996). “Jasper Johns: A Retrospective”

Early on I was very involved with the notion of the painting as an object and tended to attack that idea from different directions.

Ideas, Different, Painting

Generally, I am opposed to painting which is concerned with conceptions of simplicity. Everything looks busy to me.

Simplicity, Looks, Painting

Kirk Varnedoe, Jasper Johns (1996). “Jasper Johns: A Retrospective”

To do a drawing for a painting most often means doing something very sketchy and schematic and then later making it polished.

Mean, Drawing, Painting