Lead, 1969, JAsper Johns, High School DAys

near the end of his fertile period, series of small and heavy reliefs of a toothbrush. eyeglasses, a lightbulb on chain, and this.

ideas of the artist as critic, the artist as voyuer, the artist as cheap, cliche ridden, the artist as permanent adolsecent. (also in terms of the toothbrush, a refuting of his earlier work--it looks hygenic and clean, but its literally deadly.

this one is really interesting as well, in a sort of anti autobiographical sense--w. the targets constantly queered, made political when he really is not...the mirror on the shoe is the heterosexual signifier, there can be nothing queer about it---the seminal primal veiwings of gay folks are easier to see and more difficult to process--male flesh parades. (football field, locker room, the summer heat, etc)

you guys are sick of all this fag stuff arent you--
then look at how formally brilliant the circle of the mirror is reflected in the bottom of the shoe, and the shine of silver is made more glorius in the dull shean of the lead.