Ale Cans

A prolific and innovative printmaker, Jasper Johns frequently explored themes and subjects in more than one medium. In this color lithograph of 1964, Johns presents a two-dimensional portrayal of his cast bronze sculture of two Ballantine ale cans paintied to look like actiual beer cans. Johns regulalry chose everyday objects and standardized images as subjects for his art. He depicted numbers, letters, flags, maps, and targets in simple, straightforward compositions. This approach allowed Johns to effectively neutralize his subjects and eliminate any suggestion of narrative content, forcing the viewer to examine the surface, texture, shading, and color of his artworks, that is, as ink on paper, paint on canvas, or cast bronze. For Johns, the artistic process was an integral aspect of the work of art itself. By deemphasizing the hand of the artist, his method also represented an unequivocal repudiation of the individualized self-expression and emotional intensity of the Abstract Expressionists.