While the color gray may seem like an unusual theme for a painting exhibition, the latest show of Jasper Johns work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art shows how a single color can be pushed beyond its traditional use in studies or sketches. Johns' use of the color gray has spanned his entire career, from the 1950's until the present. I found the two works, False Start, 1959 and Jubilee, 1959 to be the most interesting for their similarity and dramatic difference. While False Start is extremely bright and colorful, Jubilee is mute, done in monochromatic gray. Were it not for the slight differences in composition and the visible brush work Jubilee could be mistaken for a black and white photographic reproduction of False Start. However, the photograph and its properties seem to be implicated in the arrangement of these two pieces in the exhibit - they are right next to each other. What can be gained from this reference to photography? I first think of the reductive quality of the photograph as well as the opportunity it affords for meticulous study. John's gray paintings have the feeling of studies, although not in an incomplete or sketch-like sense. Rather, they are works of art that directly study and address their media - paint, ink, canvas, wood - and their physical presence before the artist. Therefore, John's use of Gray is a profound formal choice that allows him to experiment with the physical and material qualities of the work of art without letting color distract him or the viewer from the consideration of the importance of the physical attributes of his chosen media.