The Problem with Familiarity

This past weekend I was in San Francisco for Thanksgiving. Of course, there is never a city I will visit without paying special attention to its museums and current exhibits. Lucky for me, while I was there, a Jasper Johns exhibit was taking place at the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Now, when I think of Jasper Johns, as the amateur art historian that I am, the first thing that comes to mind are his flags. Actually, I wrote about his flag renderings on this blog just two weeks ago in context to the presidential elections. I think his flags are absolutely stunning, particularly for their ability for the American flag to be viewed in a far different fashion than most are generally accustomed to.

Yet, when I left the exhibit, I was shocked. The survey of Johns’ work, a semi-retrospective of his career, was not awe-inducing for the presentation of the flags that Johns is infamous for. Instead, it was the rest of his body of work that genuinely and wholeheartedly captivated me. After walking through the exhibit, not once but three times, I felt bored by his flags. I was instead amazed by his numbers and his representations of the seasons, winter, spring, fall and summer.

So, the problem then arises – as viewers of art, those who enjoy art but are not intense studiers of it, we become all to liable to the problem of associating an artist’s most famous work with the artist, solely. This, I believe, is detrimental to the understanding, appreciation, evaluation and study of art. As students of art, it is imperative to always have an open mind while viewing a work – without the freedom to think creatively, a student can never genuinely learn from a work, as they will instead be clouded with misconceptions. There must be countless well-educated people, those who may have taken an introductory art history course or visited museums while growing up, who, when asked about Jasper Johns, would say, “Oh, the one with the flags!” Well, yes, he is that, but he is also the creator of a deeply spiritual, highly intellectual, body of work.

I thereby challenge all readers, all viewers of art, to throw your preconceptions out the door when entering a museum, a gallery, an exhibit. Rather than allowing oneself to strictly see an artist’s work based on prior thoughts, instead, look at the individual work as its own entity, one that will allow you to get lost in its meaning and style. Art is far too unique and fluid to be caught up in the constraints of categorization and preconceived notions.