Interview with Jasper Johns

On the occasion of his exhibition, Jasper Johns: an Allegory of Paint, 1955-1965
which will be on view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
from January 28 to April 29, 2007, the artist welcomed the Rail’s
art editor John Yau to his home to talk about various subjects. Before
the interview took place, Johns asked Yau not to ask him about the
philosophy of the exhibition because he didn’t know what it was. As he
told another interviewer, “I was not involved in the determination of
the title. Maybe Jeffrey Weiss’s text will explain the meaning.”

John Yau (Rail): Have you ever seen a UFO?

Jasper Johns:
Yes. When I was in the army in Sendai, Japan, a friend and I saw odd
lights moving through the sky and we made a report. We were told that
there had been x-number of sightings in the last month.

Rail:
You moved to New York City from South Carolina in December 1948, when
you were 18. You saw your first Picasso the following year, when you
were 19. While on leave from the army, which you were in from May 1951
to May 1953, you came up to New York and saw Picasso’s play, Desire Caught by the Tail performed by The Living Theater. Would you say that these experiences constituted your education?

Johns: They contributed.

Rail: Over the years I have heard you quote lines of Edith Sitwell’s poems from memory. Do you know a number of her poems by heart?

Johns: There are a few, but I often forget them.

Rail:
When did you first begin reading Sitwell’s poetry? Did you ever hear
her read? And, if so, what do you remember about her reading?

Johns:
I suppose it was around 1949 when I was boarding with friends in St.
Albans on Long Island. I realized that something odd was coming from
the radio and I listened until there was an explanation of what it was:
a recording of Sitwell reading FaÁade, with Walton’s music. I don’t
think I had ever heard a poet read before that.

Rail:
What other poets did you hear read in the early 1950s? I think you once
mentioned going to a benefit reading for Kenneth Patchen at the Gotham
Book Store.

Johns: It was not at the
Gotham but in a church. Patchen was ill, I believe, and a group of
poets read, Sitwell, cummings, McLeish, Moore, Williams, among them.

Rail: Was there a point in your life when you wanted to be a poet? Did you ever write poems?

Johns: No.