Topics: J : Johns, Jasper

(1930-) American artist, influenced by Marcel Duchamp in the mid-1950s, he attempted to transform common objects into art by placing them in an art context. His flags and target images executed from 1954 to 1959 heralded the pop art movement. Johns based his painting technique on the informal brushwork and texture of abstract expressionism, attaching literal elements such as rulers and brooms to the canvas.