Object Record
Images
Metadata
Artist |
Johnson, Ray |
Title |
Three Thirds |
Medium |
Tempera, ink, and gouache on board laid on board |
Date |
1966 |
Description |
Ray Johnson (Detroit 1927-1995 Sag Harbor, New York) Three Thirds, 1966 Tempera, ink, and gouache on board laid on board 25 x 12 3/4 inches Knoxville Museum of Art, 2010 gift of the Junior League of Knoxville, Inc. Johnson was an influential collage artist known for his pioneering experiments in various media. By the mid-to-late 1950s he started using images of celebrities like Elvis and Marilyn before many of the better known Pop artists. Soon thereafter he began a practice that would later become an international phenomenon during the 1960s known as "Mail Art" in which bits and pieces of collages, newspapers, found objects were gathered and mailed with special instructions to a vast network of fellow artists. Johnson often cut apart early collages and used the fragments in new works, a practice he dubbed "Chop Art, not Pop Art." Three Thirds represents one of his "tesserae", or collages made up of small blocks of board he painted, sanded, and glued together to create endlessly inventive mosaic-like compositions that appear to be weathered by time. Johnson became reclusive by the early 1980s and in 1995 was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Sag Harbor, New York. Some speculated that the artist's death or suicide was his final performance piece. An award-winning documentary on Johnson, How to Draw a Bunny, was produced in 2002 and features interviews with close friends such as Roy Lichtenstein, Christo, Chuck Close, and other prominent artists. |
Catalog Number |
2010.01.01 |
Search Terms |
Tempera paintings Ink drawings Gouaches Paintings Collage Mixed media works |
Credit line |
Gift of the Junior League of Knoxville, Inc. |