Jasper Johns-Dancers on a Plane

The themes of this work appear to be art, dance, sex and religion. It was inspired by a

Tantric painting of the god Shiva represented as Lord of the Dance and copulating with

the goddess Sakti. Johns presents the dance abstractly in the 'dancing' forms on the

canvas, but at the centre top and bottom of the frame are stylised images of a vulva and

testicles. The work is dedicated to Johns's friend the celebrated dancer Merce

Cunningham. His name and the title are written along the bottom of the picture but

intermingled: The words are composed of alternate letters, read right to left, beginning