Decoy contains imagery from several earlier works, including elements from Passage I. Here, for the first time, Johns had access to an offset printing press, which facilitates the use of multiple plates, photographic transfers, and layering. After finishing Decoy, he used the leftover, rejected prints to create Decoy II.
Focus: Jasper Johns, December 6, 2008–February 16, 2009.
Gallery label from Artistic Collaborations: 50 Years at Universal Limited Art Editions , January 17–May 21, 2007.
Decoy highlights Johns's persistent theme of memory, presenting an amalgam of his former imagery—the ale can in the center, the frieze of his sculptures along the bottom, and color words and body fragments from an earlier print. Johns juxtaposes hand–drawn passages with photographic depictions, a feature made significantly simpler by his use here, for the first time, of ULAE's offset press.
Explore more
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.