Johns, J. (1969). MORATORIUM [Offset Lithograph]. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, NY, United States.
In MORATORIUM, Jasper Johns inverts the colors of the flag from red, white, and blue to a yellow, green, and black reminiscent of the colors worn by Soldiers in the Vietnam War. This shocking effect is furthered by the texture seen on the green lines, an asymmetrical combination of different shades of green. A bullet hole in the center of the flag evokes feelings of treachery until the viewer realizes what they are looking at is not in fact the American flag, but a distorted version of the flag which places the viewer deep in the jungles of Vietnam. The text, “MORATORIUM,” means a suspension of an activity until an issue is resolved. This is in reference to the Moratorium Marches of 1969 (BBC, 2019) which protested for the end of the Vietnam War.
