jj: Oh, I can't...we,, I can, how? Well, I worked very closely with Bob for a number of years with immediate communication of ideas. I don't, I don't know what...how to describe it. It's embodied in my work, and in his works, during a certain period of time.
that sounds like the stammering of a man who had come out from the shadow of a once upon a time mentor (rr) and has decided not to credit mentor quite so much for the historic record. or at least keep the record a little fuzzy rather than out and out credit. consistent with a theoretical motive to swipe back the 1st flag. did jj a nd rr have such a bad falling out personally and professionally on record? where is this story told? book(s)? i would put jj over rr in the 20c art cannon (for iconic reasons alone.) so if its true, it all sounds a tad petty on jj's part. that said with a big IF.
edit: (from wikipedia JJ notes) 6 - Zongker, Brett (1 November 2010). "Smithsonian explores impact of gays on art history". The Associated Press. "When artist Jasper Johns was mourning the end of his relationship with Robert Rauschenberg, he took one of his famous flag paintings, made it black, and dangled a fork and spoon together from the top. Hidden symbols in Johns' "In Memory of My Feelings," tell part of story, curators said. Color from the relationship is gone. A fork and spoon elsewhere in the painting are separated. Here we have a coded glimpse into a six-year relationship that was rarely acknowledged even in Rauschenberg's 2008 obituary. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is decoding such history from abstract paintings and portraits in the first major museum exhibit to show how sexual orientation and gender identity have shaped American art."
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edit: (from wikipedia JJ notes) 6 - Zongker, Brett (1 November 2010). "Smithsonian explores impact of gays on art history". The Associated Press. "When artist Jasper Johns was mourning the end of his relationship with Robert Rauschenberg, he took one of his famous flag paintings, made it black, and dangled a fork and spoon together from the top. Hidden symbols in Johns' "In Memory of My Feelings," tell part of story, curators said. Color from the relationship is gone. A fork and spoon elsewhere in the painting are separated. Here we have a coded glimpse into a six-year relationship that was rarely acknowledged even in Rauschenberg's 2008 obituary. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery is decoding such history from abstract paintings and portraits in the first major museum exhibit to show how sexual orientation and gender identity have shaped American art."
- bill 2-09-2011 6:19 pm