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First Writing Assignment
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katie Gene Castro says:
Katie Castro
Art 477 1002
Robert Tracy
Opinion Paper 1
The painting The Connoisseur by Norman Rockwell immediately grabs my attention. Made in 1962, this painting shows a man, with his back facing the viewer. He is admiring a very colorful and abstract painting similar to the style coined by Jackson Pollock, on what seems like a gallery wall. He stands very close and holds a polite and proper posture. The man has his hands behind his back and holds a cane and a hat that matches his grey suit well. The checkerboard floor he stands on is a fun element as well, contrasting the disarray of splatter paint in the artwork within the artwork. Without us being able to see the man's face, we are allowed to imagine how he is reacting to the abstract art he is viewing. And because of the time period this painting was made, his reaction is truly more unknown.
By being someone who is often engaged in conversation about art, I find it common for people to dislike abstract art. Many non-artists believe it is lazy, easy, and unimpressive. People like this are often more shocked and appreciative of realism art because they cannot accomplish anything like that personally. While we are all entitled to our own opinions, I would claim that these people do not fully understand the beauty an abstract art piece can hold. Norman Rockwell makes a commentary on this common belief of abstract art. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were heated debates about abstraction vs realism. Rockwell made The Connoisseur to poke fun at his fellow artist and somewhat competitor, Jackson Pollock. Pollock was famous for painting on the floor with what looks like thrown paint around the canvas. There is no proof if Rockwell's painting had ill will towards Pollock, but based off Rockwell's style of realism illustrations, I would assume he had some bad feelings toward abstract art in general.
Abstraction is something that allows the viewer to have their own interpretation. Rockwell's common illustrations tell clear stories just like his 1958 piece Before the Shot. This painting gives a comedic vibe with a young boy in a doctor's office. The boy's pants are pulled down and he is ready for an injection in his butt. The viewers of paintings like these often react very similarly. They find scenes cute or funny. Abstraction does not tell the viewer what to feel. Colors and textures allow someone to make their own story and feelings based off what they are looking at. Robert Motherwell says it best, "Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as beauty." With abstract often including haphazard strokes and technique, the artists let out their emotions in a new way while painting.
I really enjoy the collaboration of styles in the painting by Norman Rockwell. The Connoisseur allows the viewer to imagine what the man is thinking. It leaves more of an open interpretation than other works by Rockwell. The delicate and detailed work of the clothing and body overlapping the fun and colorful splatter of the abstract piece draws your attention. This painting is fun because it resembles a situation most of us have been in! We all have stood and stared at a painting in a gallery or museum and maybe did not know how to feel right away. With so many diverse opinions of Abstraction, you can make the man in the painting opinion's match your own.
Andrea Lugo
Art 434-1001 & Art 477-1002
Professor Robert Tracy
Art 434-1001 & 477-1002: Combined Writing Assignment One
The quote I chose is "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was," (Jackson Pollock). I took this quote to heart based on previous experiences I have had. There are many viewers and artists who find abstract art controversial because the art usually lacks a focal point, appears as if there is no beginning or end, and no set concept. Some forms of art, such as abstract art is usually not understood by many people. As stated in the PowerPoint from Pollock's Shadow, "It is 'human nature' to reject or dismiss that which threatens our sense of reality." Just because a painting does not have a set subject matter and makes the viewer question what they are seeing does not mean it should be rejected or insulted.
One artwork that I liked was Convergence by Jackson Pollock which was produced in 1952. Convergence represents Pollock's drip and pour paintings and is a representation of his expression of freedom. It has no set focal point and has quite a few layers of paint. This work can be seen as having no beginning or end and can be interpreted differently towards every viewer. This drip and pour technique do not need a definite subject matter or concept. It is unique towards each individual and represents an endless amount of different meanings. Convergence consists of bright orange, blue, yellow, and white against black paint. The contrasting colors splattered on the canvas evoke many different emotions. The splatters appear random, yet also appear as if they were done purposely and with intent. For instance, the bright colors against the black paint make me view this as a positive and emotional piece, evoking a strong and loud emotion based on the splattered technique and vibrant colors against the dark background. There are various lines, circles, and spots splattered all throughout the canvas, and the vibrancy of the colors emit a rebellious/free nature compared to the neutral and dark background, as if they are escaping a dark energy.
Convergence also reminds me of the Greater Los Angeles area. The splatters of different colors remind me of the Los Angeles community because of its diverse culture, and how the city is forever changing. The scattered paint reminds me of the diverse community and how their paths are frequently interacting with one another. There is no straight path when developing a city, and the different motions and directions in the painting can resemble the various paths of the growing city. There is so much movement and nonstop action going on within the painting, similar to the action in Greater Los Angeles. It is a city on the go, constantly searching for new trends and developing nonstop. While I do enjoy the painting, I happen to be conflicted with this it as well because it makes me respond strongly due to my own experiences in school and trying to create art.
The painting by Pollock, makes me reflect upon prior feelings I have had in regard towards concepts and styles of art. No artist is the same, and each has different techniques, styles, and put different amount of time and effort into their work. Each style has people that like and understand it, and some do not. Art is very subjective. None of these should be dismissed and looked down upon because of how it makes the viewer feel, or simply because they do not understand. A lot of negativity in the art world is brought upon because of a lack of understanding. Once someone does not understand an artwork and are not presented with any background knowledge of the work, they are quick to go to anger and insults because people tend to hate what they do not know or cannot comprehend.
The painting Convergence makes me think of the quote about how Pollock's paintings do not have any beginning or end. Outside of college and the education aspect, all styles of art are welcomed and explored, but with my experiences in school the subject of a concept/subject matter was highly emphasized. Regardless of how good the technique was, how vibrant the abstract piece was, if the painting did not have a meaning or concept the critique tended to be negative due to the viewer's lack of understanding. It felt as if they did not care, and did not want to understand either. Personally, majority of my work does not have any deep meanings or concepts, I paint and draw things that I like, but in school if I didn't have a meaning or concept in my paintings in certain classes I would receive points off. While action painting and Pollock's style is praised outside and in school, I find it contradicting that instructors criticize the students for the subject matter they desire to paint. I believe that art can be anything, and a painting does not need a beginning or end. A painting can be the process or act, or even be non-representational, and anything that gets people discussing and wanting to learn more are successful paintings.
Overall, all art is art, and none of it should be dismissed. Even in Los Angeles, they are home to various artists, all different styles, and each are considered art. As artists and viewers, rather than responding negatively and dislike a specific type of art, we should try to take the time to understand other artists' styles. Art cannot be confined by certain expectations or limitations, anything can be art. There are so many different styles and meanings to art. Art surrounds us in all aspects. Art can be the buildings around us, work-spaces, the process or act of creating, anything.
Hannah Rath
Dr. Robert Tracy
Art 477 Section 1002
Opinion/Position Writing Assignment 1
"Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as beauty." (Robert Motherwell)
I have never been a fan of abstract art, especially creating it. I never know where to start or where to end which is beyond infuriating. I do, however, appreciate those who can create these works because the art always looks so amazing.
Jackson Pollock is one of the most well-known artists when it comes to abstract expressionism. One of his pieces; Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), is an example of abstract expressionism.
Autumn Rhythm is an 8 ft 9 in x 17 ft 3 in (266.7 cm x 525.8 cm) enamel on canvas painting by Jackson Pollock in 1950. The painting seems to have four different colors being used; black, white, a dark silvery gray, and a light tan, on a very light tan colored canvas. Black seems to be the most utilized color used in the painting. The white paint used really adds a highlight to the duller and darker colors. Throughout the piece, you can see many different techniques that were used to cover the canvas with the paint.
You can see spatter, creating many circular spots of varying sizes all around the piece. These spatter marks could have been made by swinging the brush-up and down, flinging the paint onto the canvas; or the marks could have been made by flipping the bristles of the paintbrush (just as you would flip the pages of a flipbook), spraying the paint like a fine mist. I can see the first technique being quite aggressive while the second seems calm and whimsical.
The lines all over the canvas could have been made by dripping the paint over the canvas from either the brush or from the receptacle that the paint came in. Both ways of dripping the paint could be done at different speeds which would change the way the line is made. Faster speeds would make the lines of paint very thin and maybe more pristine, swirly, and energetic feeling. Slower lines would make the lines of the paint much thicker and a lot messier looking, giving a more sluggish feeling. Having a mix of these types of lines really makes the painting look chaotic since all the lines intertwine within each other, unable to see the exact path of each line. The dripping of paint adds fun to the piece because it gives a sense of movement and rhythm, really making the name of the piece, Autumn Rhythm, make sense.
Noah Rath
Art 477-677 Section 1002
Writing Assignment 1
For this assignment, I have chosen the quote, "Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as beauty" by Robert Motherwell. I choose this quote because that is what I believe abstract art is. I have also decided to compare it to the abstract oil on paper painting, Work II by Kazuo Shiraga in 1958. The reason why is because since I believe abstract painting is more about emotion and symbolism and Work II seems to show more of that. Therefore, I will talk about what I see in this painting and about how I feel about this painting.
Within the painting, I see a big, red, messy background on the canvas and within the background, I see some white parts that are the places that have not even been painted. I also see a bunch a black swirly and squiggly lines all over the canvas that are painted together. I can even see how some of the black and red colors have mixed forming some brown colors too. I like the combination of the two different dark colors coming together and how it shows off in the light like the colors of the fall season and even Halloween. From that, I can tell that this painting depicts a lot of emotion and feeling from the artist himself.
To me, I feel that that this painting with its design and colors shows how the artist likes to paint and how the artist's artwork comes out. I also feel that this artwork symbolizes uniqueness and creativity, because of how it is painted. The artwork also symbolizes simplicity because of how easy and simple the artwork looks. Which shows how the artist is unique and simple in making artwork. Which is the kind of artist I see myself as right now.
To me, the painting also symbolizes a very dark tone in the work of art. For instance, the red color in the background sort of looks like blood. The black swirls on the painting also look like a horned demonic entity that is in a cloud-like form. From that, I can tell that the artwork shows off a form of dark expressionism. From that, it defines the basic rule and formation of abstract art. It does not matter what it is or what form it might take, all that matters is how the artist feels about the artwork and how the artist expresses it in the way he or she likes it. That is how I feel about my own artwork and how I want to show it off for everyone to see.
So, in conclusion, that is why I picked the quote "Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as beauty" by Robert Motherwell and why I think it best explains the concept of abstract art. This is also what I think, feel, and see in the abstract oil on paper painting artwork, Work II by Kazuo Shiraga. Both the quote and the painting symbolize both my views on abstract art and the kind of artist I am like and want to be. Art comes in many forms and has a lot of different meanings to everyone who does it. It all depends on the kind of person the artist is and the art style that best fits them.
Jonathan Suarez
ART 477 – 1002
A Collective Divide.
Artwork Referenced: Jackson Pollock – Mural – 1943
Quote Referenced: "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was" (Jackson Pollock)
In a society torn by our own bent out misconception of unity,
Togetherness is just another form of chaos,
That is forged into an idea of what we call righteousness.
Put together to be pulled apart
By political parties, racial disparities, social, and economic status.
This is capitalism's rolling advertisement on happiness.
Our society is a mural of expressive abstract color smothered across canvas,
But promoted to an environment in trying to see the grays between the blacks and the whites.
Much like our surroundings,
We've been sold to the idea of happiness as a one-way street.
A goal.
An attainable concrete prize.
A beginning and an end.
In this we must know is wrong.
A separation in the togetherness that we so critically acclaim.
The truth is,
In happiness and in life there is no definitive point of beginning or end.
There is no solidifying point of 'A' to 'B'.
Happiness is an expression of emotion,
Depicted as interweaving swirls and lines.
It thins and it thickens.
It changes color and form.
It is quite a compliment to live life
Between the strokes of color and self-expression.
Unbothered by the opinions of every person,
As every person is a critic.
We are melded together in a uniform chaos,
Divided by negative space,
Spanning across a mural of paint.
Aundie Megan Soriano
Art 477 sec 1002
First Opinion / Position Writing Assignment
With fall coming around the corner, my eyes immediately locked on to one of Jackson Pollock's paintings made in 1950 called Autumn Rhythm. With many of his works exploring the drip painting technique he created, I find that each one offers a different tone to them. The "end" result in his pieces can all be considered to be in the same family, but interestingly enough, do not share the same story. All of his pieces come with different choreographic movement and that process is what makes these pieces stand as individuals.
When observing Pollock's Autumn Rhythm, the first thing that sticks out to me is the color palette that strongly reflects the title. The natural tones of browns, the subtle contrasting color of white, and the tan-colored canvas work perfectly in harmony. I feel that these colors really accentuate the essence of fall. Many visuals of fall come into mind when looking at this artwork, a pumpkin spice latte, leaves slowly falling down a tree, a turkey, and the warmness that slowly changes to the bittersweet cold winter to name a few. With autumn being the season filled with thoughts and feelings of appreciation and thankfulness, I find this piece to represent life and how paths meet. The interactions between strokes create this idea of interconnectedness and how different things can play a part in one's life. I also get a sense of struggle in the piece due to the chaotic movement of the paint taking different courses and how the dark brown color creates this branch like effect.
As I zoom in and really take a look into the composition, what orders the colors hit the canvas and just imagining the overall movement that took course creating this piece. As Pollock used unorthodox methods and tools to create his works, I feel like each tool confronted the canvas differently and perhaps had a color assigned to it. From the composition, I can tell that the light brown (forgive me if I am identifying this color wrong), has a different weight and sort of has this edgier feel to it, while the darker brown and white have a more of a natural drip effect to them.
Looking deeper into the piece, there is no sense of hierarchy or focal point at all. The entirety of Autumn Rhythm expresses the idea of movement. This brings me to Jackson Pollock's statement, where he says, "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." With no hierarchy and focal point in the piece, it creates this idea of infinite or endless possibilities, especially because of the scale of the work. In the textbook, it mentions the work to be about 105 in. x 207 in. wide. With this large scale canvas, I feel that I would be caught up with the web of strokes. This quote reflects so well with Pollock's work as you don't get a sense of where he started and where he finished. I also feel like this "end" result has a sense of being finished but unfinished at the same time. It's like there can be more possibilities for this that can be added on, but it came to a pause.
Ultimately, I appreciate Jackson Pollock's exploration in diving deeper into each of his pieces by using unorthodox means to develop them. Autumn Rhythm, being one of Pollock's inspiring works, captures my attention the most as it feels very balanced even through all of its chaotic lines. Overall, I find this piece to resemble different interactions in life and how the piece is a great visual that celebrates the season of autumn.
Josett Manotham-Garin
Professor Tracy
ART 477 – SEC 1002
Writing Assignment One: Lavender Mist by Jackson Pollock
"Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you." Even now, abstract art still gets mixed reactions. Because of its vagueness and lack of context, many get stuck over defining the concept of abstraction, which defeats the purpose of what it actually entails. It goes without saying that art is subjective to each individual. But there are a lot of ways to grasp this whole concept. For this writing assignment, I chose Jackson Pollock's quote, along with his painting: Lavender Mist.
As if it's crying for attention, this painting is very compelling. The colors are not vivid, but the way they blend together among the chaos still appears harmonious. With the colored scribbles and variety of thick and thin splattered lines, the painting makes it feel more alive. The drippings are everywhere without a consistent pattern, which means that Pollock had no plan for where he's putting the paint during his creative process. In fact, that may be true as Pollock has said, according to one of the module's PowerPoint: "When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about." There is a lot of action going on throughout the canvas that will have the eyes spinning in circles to no end. There is always something you need to look at since it requires your full attention.
Lavender Mist presents different forms of motion. It is out of control that it feels as if both the artist and viewer are spiraling into this entanglement. It is clear that this painting has layers upon layers. Movement starts to become more aggressive with each line and dripping put onto the canvas. There are no continuous lines, but more of static, constant lines that could represent frustration. During the beginning of the abstraction expressionism movement, Pollock's work was not considered appropriate which made me believe that Lavender Mist was a way of conveying rage which was never displayed by the artist himself. But it also made me think that engaging with the materials and canvas itself during his creative process was a way for him to be "in control," while receiving criticism that were out of his control.
At first, the reason I chose this artwork was because of its title. Expecting hues of what was considered "lavender", I was slightly disappointed that there was no trace of it. It should have been expected when viewing this painting, particularly if it was produced by Jackson Pollock. As human beings are instinctively problem solvers, I think our first impulse is trying to find solutions when faced with a new concept. Problem solving in abstract art isn't always prevalent. At first, I found the idea of abstraction difficult to understand, but I needed to let go of those ideas and let my mind wander with the art. I realized how refreshing and simpler it was to appreciate abstract art without nitpicking all the specifics in the artwork.
To me, abstract art is undoubtedly a complex topic to learn about in particular. It might not be my favorite, but the abstract artists' intention gave me a deeper understanding of why it exists today. For some it may be dull and potentially exciting for others. As stated from the start: Art is subjective. Not everybody needs to like every kind of art. But, what's important for just about any viewer is the influence it left on them. Abstract art certainly doesn't always have to have meaning. Just as Pollock said, "abstract art will confront you." Keeping one's mind open when looking at this form of art allows participation and visualization without any distractions. Not only that, you get this feeling of the artist's connection to the painting. I believe that is the value I see in abstract art. There is no right answer as to how one interprets it, even if there is no meaning behind it.
(turned in earlier this week but just posting again on this blog entry)
(this is a combined essay for ART 434 and ART 477)
ART 434—1001/ART 477—1002
I decided to choose Convergence by Jackson Pollock. Maybe it was just how it visually looked. Maybe it had to do with the title. Honestly, I feel like it was a little bit of both. Overall, I feel like this piece captures, all in one, the essence of what it is like to navigate through Greater Los Angeles and navigate through one of Pollack's paintings. Looking from the outside, Greater Los Angeles seems almost like a mess. Non-Angelenos are lost, until they learn how to "read" the city; "Like earlier generations of English intellectuals who taught themselves Italian in order to read Dante in the original, I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original" (Reyner Banham). Same goes for a Pollock piece. "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was" (Jackson Pollock). But, once you know how to navigate through them, you can acknowledge that yes maybe they look like a mess, but it is a mess with intention and purpose.
At first glance, this piece looks like a random splatter of paint. Reading into it, we can see its development. The background seems to have started with an even layer of the light tan color. And while the black paint seems to be layered over the tan, to me I still see it as a part of the background. Compared to the other colors, it is the only one that really leaves and goes past the borders. Pollock for the most part contains the other colors, the red, blue, yellow, and white, within the edges of the painting. It makes me chuckle at the comment made by the reviewer that said his paintings have no beginning or end. Clearly, Pollock knows when he wants to end his paint splatters. So for me, I'm going to read the background as the tan and black splatters. Now, moving on into the other colors. Again, at quick glance it seems almost random, but further reading into it we can see that there are layers in the colors. The next layer after the background, from what I can decipher, is the blue. Unlike the colors which have more of a swirl effect to them, the blues seem more like splattered yet placed splotches. I believe yellow came next. This is where Pollock begins giving the paint longer strokes. Next layer of paint I believe is red. Again, long strokes and while most of the red is contained inside the border there are small strokes that leave the painting at the top edge. That leaves white as the top layer. While it continues to have long strokes, its thicker in some areas compared to the primary colors. Of course, I don't know if this order is correct, but what I do know is that Pollock had intention when placing his colors; they are not just random splatters of paint. I also feel like even when the layers I mentioned above were done being placed he was far from done. I'm sure he must have gone back to allow colors to interweave and bleed into each other and added extra strokes wherever he felt needed.
It was the interweaving and the paint bleeding into each other that reminded me of the "mess" that is Greater Los Angeles. I say mess sarcastically because just like I determined that this piece is planned, so is Greater Los Angeles. I see an essence of what Los Angeles is within this painting. Immediately when looking at the swirls within this painting my mind correlated them with the Los Angeles' freeways. The freeway system essentially connects you to every section of Greater Los Angeles. The strokes in this painting do that as well. You can start on any part of the stroke, any color, and follow along until you reach a convergence of the strokes and hop on another color which can lead you to the opposite side of the piece. The convergence of the strokes resemble the spaghetti bowls you'd encounter while driving along the freeway. The thicker sections of the strokes, in my eyes, could represent how congested Los Angeles traffic can get. The blue splotches could work as the large buildings and structures you would encounter as you drive to and from work. Then there is the black and tan background. I look at that background and I see the many suburbs spread across Greater Los Angeles. The residents within the city have one thing in common and that is their interconnection with the freeway. So while the black drips in the background are in different densities, they are all the same color to show their connection to the layers above them. As I mentioned above, the red drips are really the only ones that really go past the canvas. To me this can represent not only how the freeway can connect you to the rest of California, but it can symbolize how Greater Los Angeles culture leaks its way out. For instance, I have never lived in Los Angeles, but I can recognize that the freeway is a major part of Greater Los Angeles society.
I think part of the beauty with abstract art is being to able to interpret it in multiple ways. And I think that is why Convergence stood out to me. I quickly found myself comparing the piece to Greater Los Angeles. And I do not think a painting made with random splatters would do that. Clearly Pollock had intent with every movement he made with the paint. Looking at Greater Los Angeles from an eagle's eye, it sort of resembles a Pollock piece, don't you think? It might look like a "mess," but just like the paint drips are made with purpose, so are the freeways.
Nanci Clyde says:
Nanci Clyde
Art 473&477
1st Writing Assignment
Vincent and Pollock
"There are two distinct languages. There is the verbal, which separates people…and there is the visual that is understood by everybody."(Yaacov Agam) This right here is why I read art more than reading books and hearing people's stories. Words are words, most of the time you cannot change what it means but to accept the way it is. Visually, however, can be anything. You can change what it is and what it means by your own opinion and imagination. As an artist myself, I find it more interesting and appealing to tell stories through art. 'A picture is worth a thousand words' right?
The Starry Night and that one episode from Doctor Who (An episode where Doctor Who meets Vincent and carries him to the future. It was very emotional to watch) have made me one of the inspired artists from Vincent Van Gogh. His works have always brought me in awe and the way those brushstrokes covered the canvas seems like it is in movement. Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1888, is drawn in color pastel on cardboard. The way Vincent used colors is very similar to his many paintings. Even all those visible pastel strokes above his head and on his coat or a suit look very alike to the way he painted The Starry Night but more unorganized. I will have to say, many of his self-portraits have comparable color pallets and texture to it especially his facial area. His choice of mixing colors is very much like I do for my digital painting. His way of using more than one single color to draw or paint values taught me the beauty of mixing colors; to make anything darker or brighter without using black and white. In this drawing, Vincent uses dark blue to emphasize shadow and uses more cool colors to contrast the warm and bright colors. His face is mostly yellow, orange, and a little red to his cheek, ear, and his facial hair. The dark cool color surrounding him makes his face the focal point. I like this piece especially because of the use of colors in this drawing.
Looking at Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1888, in a "Frame" perspective made me think about what is going on in this image. What is the untold story that is stowed in this work of art? Is he alone? Many of us artists know Vincent was a lonely artist. Is there another person on the other side of the table his sitting? In my perspective, he seems like he is looking at something or someone. It is hard to extinguish his expression, but he seems like he is looking at something very attentive.
"There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was."(Jackson Pollock) After seeing Pollock's works, I agree more to the reviewers' point. Autumn Rhythm, 1950, and most of Pollock's works are well spread with splatters and lines across the canvas. The reason I choose his work is I think it's similar in a way Vincent visualizes his images. If you zoom in far enough of the Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, it becomes abstract and messy with line strokes. Of course, they are not fine or detailed as Pollack's but I see some significance to it. Autumn Rhythm, 1950, is an interesting one. It seems monochromatic but it is obvious there is brown paint and the background has a tint of color as well. The very first thing that reminded me when looking at this painting was coffee. Even though I am not a coffee drinker, the color palette used in this work reminds of me the drink. Jumbled energy that gives with that black, those white platters need to be seen with focus, and those brown lines are the reminiscence of the flavor of your coffee. It may indicate some kind of endless cycle, no beginning nor end.
Rather it is abstract or not, there is always that visual magic within every artwork out there. It is always fun to make up your own story like what I did with Pollock's work and loved imagining the 'what if' for Vincent's portrait. "There are two distinct languages. There is the verbal, which separates people…and there is the visual that is understood by everybody."(Yaacov Agam)
Art 473&477 (combined essay)
Rebecca Isacoff says:
Rebecca Isacoff
Art 477 & 434 (Combined Paper)
Opinion Paper One
"The big shock of my life was Abstract Expressionism — Pollock, de Kooning, those guys. It changed my work. I was an academically trained student, and suddenly you could pour paint, smear it on, broom it on!" – LeRoy Neiman
The line of what curriculum can be taught in art classes at a university has always been a blurry one. While art is a subject matter than is intended to be unlimited in its creative options, academically it tends to suffocate its' subjects. Abstract art helps to loosen this grip that often confines art student and hinders their ability to think outside of the academic training that they are often limited to. The work often confronts the view and the artist, forces a new line of process for the artist, and allows for more experimentation that can further lead to new ideas and bodies of work.
Jackson Pollock is one of the most well-known abstract artists and is revered for his work in abstractionism. His work can often help artists who find themselves stuck and without momentum for their work, especially in the world of academics. As LeRoy Neiman stated, "The big shock of my life was Abstract Expressionism — Pollock, de Kooning, those guys. It changed my work. I was an academically trained student, and then suddenly you could pout paint, smear it on, broom it on!" Just as Neiman suggests, abstract art has no limits to what the artist is allowed to create. In many academic art classes, you are given specific prompts and assignments as to what you are to create and produce. Taking out these "bumpers" allows the artist to explore new processes, such as pouting paint, smearing it on, or even brooming it on.
Technical processes are important to learn and are a good foundation to the academic world of art, however these boundaries are often pushed and tested. An important part of art is the process and what goes into that process, including emotions and the integrity of the work. Abstract art is this idea of emotion in a process that is raw and prevalent. An example of this can be seen in Jackson Pollock's painting Autumn Rhythm. While many people not familiar with abstract art or have a background in art, may not understand the importance of this piece. Pollock's Autumn Rhythm is a work that is focused on the process rather than the outcome. It shows the choreography and need to be in-tune with one's self and motion to produce a piece with such rhythm. At the same time, it is also a way of experimentation and finding new processes and flows to your work that no class could ever teach.
Autumn Rhythm creates a dynamic flow to the work that is a buoyant, yet graceful piece that required the artist to be more in the moment to create a such a piece. Universities often require lengthy processes to create a body of work, and often while these can overall contribute to a body of work, abstract art forces the artist to get outside their comfort zone. These taboo processes of throwing paint or using uncommon objects as working surfaces allows to a different way of thinking that will lead to an endless string of concepts that would otherwise be limited by a single assignment prompt.
These important lessons that are taught are not only limited to Abstract Expressionism. Architecture often holds these same key values when it comes to allowing artists evolve and create in unique ways that academics cannot always provide. Denise Scott Brown stated, "Architecture can't force people to connect, it can only plan the crossing points, remove barriers, and make the meeting places useful and attractive." Abstract art often has the same fundamental ideologies. Neither can force someone to connect to the work, as not everyone is tune with what is presented to them. Even though neither may be able to reach everyone who witnesses the work, it is there to diminish the isolation of strangers and provide a sense of attractiveness and meaning.
While the process of architecture is a technical process, it relies heavily on its creative process, such as abstract art does. These processes help the artist to create unique works in a three-dimensional space rather than a two-dimensional one. This is something that can be expressed academically, but in order for the artist to understand their connection and influence of three-dimensional works, the only way to develop and narrow in on these skills is with hands-on experience. Architecture in all forms allows for an in-depth planning process as well as something more abstract on where the ideas may take you.
There are several lessons that can be taught in an academic setting for those who study art, however, art is process that needs to be experienced hands-on and will mean something different for each individual who experiences it. The academic world can only teach art to such an extent, and that threshold is where a process like Abstract Expressionism can take hold and allow for a for a more creative flow focused more on the process than the result.
Brianna Varner
Robert Tracy – ART 477
Abstraction of Familiarity – Franz Kline's Chatham Square (1948)
Abstract art, a unique modern art style that had a large popularity spike in the Americas, especially in the mid-1900s. We see many artists begin to rise, as they take their apolitical abstract art and use it as a way of expression, through not only the delivery of how they create it, but the final piece as well. Many meanings can be interpreted from abstract art, and, to some, abstract art can be considered as an emotionless art form. But, despite being emotionless, it can be powerful as well. What do we do, then, when abstract art is familiar? Does it begin to gain emotional content just by association with recognizable objects? This has us looking at Franz Kline's art piece, "Chatham Square". While not necessarily the same kind of intense abstract art Franz later makes, this expressionist piece has abstractions of its own, and expressionist is well-known for being emotionally driven. What does it mean, when we see a familiar quote, "The abstract has no emotional content…the abstract is more powerful the more abstract it is"?
Expressionism is an interesting parallel to abstraction art, as both tend to be abstractions and non-realistic approaches to different ideas—but the way they portray them are different. Expressionism features heavy emotions whilst abstraction tends to be rather apolitical and varied in its meaning. In Kline's piece, Chatham Square (1948), it is a rather simple piece, an abstracted version of Chatham Square. And despite not being abstract in nature by having familiar shapes, such as silhouettes of people and other recognizable figures, this piece is surprisingly apolitical and lacks emotional content. So, what does this mean for the idea, that expressionism tends to be emotionally driven, and that abstract art has no emotional content? Well, the answer is rather simple: Putting art styles and concepts into tight boxes of what can and can't be is an elementary way of thinking about art. To imply that abstract cannot be emotional in any sense of the way, or that expressionism is emotional, and saying that abstract can be more powerful the more abstract/emotionless it is, is just a concept that simply thrives on the societal idea that art has to be one thing or another. Chatham Square (1948) could easily have meaning to someone, absolutely, but to deny its simplicity and existence of being plain and existing simply to exist, is doing expressionism and abstractions a disservice. We can abstract familiar things, have it remained abstract and emotionless, whilst it remains something recognizable.
While it is impossible to create art without having some message within it, what matters is the audience interpretation and how it is perceived. Abstraction, in nature, does not need to have extreme abstraction in order to be less powerful or have no emotion—and while there are outliers—but to deny the fact that putting abstraction into a box holds it back from its true potential, that is doing abstraction a disservice. Such as Kline's piece, which is a wonderful example of the mix between expressionism and abstraction, where it is simply not put into the restraining box that the quote tries to put abstraction into. Abstract art is not bound by any measure to be emotionless, nor does it need to be a certain level of abstraction to be considered abstract art. Chatham Square is, again, an excellent example of this idea—familiar objects but painted in such a way that it is stylistic and abstracted, but not necessarily trying to deliver a particular message about a specific thing. But, in the end, abstract art is the type of style that is meant to make you think, so it is no wonder that we find people attempting to find definition and a sense of "rules" to abstract art, in an attempt to find some meaning to it—and maybe that's the point of it all.
Jack Torres
Cecil Balmond once said, "The abstract has no emotional content…the abstract is more powerful the more abstract it is." This quote is a great example which strongly reflects the piece, Lucifer, by Jackson Pollock. Abstract art usually gives us no context to go by aside from the title and/or what is presented to us as the viewer. Balmond makes a point where if there is more abstract into a piece, it can give a much more powerful meaning or even feeling depending what is being emphasized when it comes to color, texture, medium, or even forms. With these visuals in mind it can help us try and determine what sort of "atmosphere" the work in question is giving off. This goes for all of Pollock's abstract pieces with how powerful they have become to be known as "abstract art."
Before trying to break down the elements, what comes to mind is the thought process behind this piece which strikes me interesting. At first glance it seems very chaotic overall and seems like Pollock just took his paints and splattered the whole canvas without any thought process. There are spots where there is more strength in color in certain areas where the paint was either repeatedly dripped over to create small deformed puddles of the same color or the color was given more attention to drip the puddle of color there. These blobs can be considered as an emphasis where it takes us from one dark place to another as our eyes just scrutinize every direction. Taking a look at Lucifer closely gives a sense of texture that can be felt by running your fingers over and feel the dried ridges of the paint. There is also a sense of gritty or grainy texture to it based on the smaller and finer effect of the dripped lines overlapping each other.
When it comes to paint dripping, one has no control in how the paint will land on the canvas nor is anything methodically laid out to be how one wants it to come out. The results are random and carefree based on the movement of the arms and the speed. There is a lot of movement seen from all directions whether vertical, horizontal, or even diagonally. What also contributes to movement is the artist's emotions or state of mind. That can be a starting point as to how fast, slow, vigorous, or calm the paint will fall onto the canvas which can be assumed based on the markings that are seen. The movements can be seen coming from all sorts of angles with how Pollock let the paint drip, how he poured it, and how he splattered it onto his canvas. There is layer upon layer which seems to try to cover as much or little. As the viewer, there is no starting or end point to look at so it can be looked at from any corner of the canvas and make your way across the opposite direction and vice versa.
Color choice is also very important since at least that is something every artist has control over when creating a piece. Lucifer seems to deal with bursts of black, green, yellow, red, orange, blue, and even purple just consuming the whole canvas. This color palette can give a whole range of emotions but it seems to be more on the "negative" side of emotions since there isn't anything screaming happy or joy. It is rather dull and dark which can have one think about being overwhelmed or consumed with these dark colors and small bursts of yellow, orange, and red which can have maybe a small combination of "fire" if we are trying to relate the work to a title called, "Lucifer." There seems to be very little green overtaking the painting so it is believed that green could have been added last while it keeps a sort of "consistent" movement of going horizontal than taking all directions like the rest of the colors. Since the process is paint dripping, most of the weight in the paint are thin lines until we see the bolder and thicker splotches of color which seemed to carry more paint than the others.
Lucifer is very strong in abstract; no form in sight to make out any sort of obvious form since as human beings we tend to try and make sense of what is being seen whether trying to find shapes/forms of meaning to it. Balmond makes a great point in how the more abstract the piece has, the more powerful it becomes with the effect it can give to the viewer of just questioning themselves constantly and leaving it to their imagination.
Kylelain Corinth
Writing Assignment 1: Noon by Lee Krasner
Abstract artists create imagery that captures a moment, leaving its imprint, often creating an illusion of the art being in movement. "Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you" (Jackson Pollock). Abstract art is subjective, creating an opportunity for each viewer to ascribe meaning to a piece without a subject. While the artist has her intention and emotional motivation behind the piece, the observer of the work may not be able to uncover this hidden emotion and intention layered within the smudges and splatters of paint. Consequently, I find something new each time I revisit an abstract piece as if it never stands still, as if it is always shifting both in meaning and composition. These swirls of colors that appear to be in motion are what I find striking about Lee Krasner's piece Noon.
I am confronted by the erratic chaos of the vibrant yellows, oranges, and pinks sharply turning and swirling across the canvas, contrasting with the soft blues and twists of white neighboring them. The layers of texture create a complexity, drawing the eye deeper into the painting, to try and uncover the hidden blends of paint underneath. Lee Krasner's Noon was not afraid to explore how pieces of yellow fit together with winding reds and smudged pinks. The colors dominate every area of the canvas, leaving no blank space, no break from the angry and expressive strokes. The thick winds of paint look as if they are individual broken tiles freely spread across the canvas to find a unique place within this piece. Noon demands the attention of the viewer, overwhelming my senses with the bright colors manipulated by emotionally driven brush strokes. As my eye traveled along the canvas I recognized these colors at once melting into one another, while still maintaining some degree of separation. Harmony and discord exist simultaneously within this painting. An explosion of life and imagination are present in the contrasting teals and reds, met by muted browns and blacks. Noon, similar to other abstract works, is individual and personal as well as universal. I was fully submerged in this abstract piece, no longer using a logical thought process. Instead, when engaging with this painting, I was open to feeling and experience, to the undefinable.
The striking space Krasner created necessitates an internal and mindful experience. This results in a visual piece that one may see and experience but not define. This painting is unique to everyone who encounters the work. In Noon, there is no beginning and end or formulaic path to follow that takes you from one focal point to the next. When I saw the painting for the first time I felt a calm and softness in the yellows that are brushed sporadically along the canvas. However, when I dug deeper, there is a harshness in the sharp edges of the blacks and reds. The meaning in the painting is what you ascribe to it once you re-emerge from the totalizing experience of the layers of unidentifiable forms and shapes. Within abstract art, one can step into this world and truly experience it. The lack of structure and the limitlessness of this piece invites the observer including myself of Krasner's art, including myself, to contemplate not only the immediate imagery but also what these juxtaposing smooth and rough brushstrokes mean. The lack of descriptive imagery and articulation of thought in clear form in Noon might first have the observer questioning if there is anything there. However, once I sat with the piece and delved deeper into Noon, I felt the movement and meaning in these dynamic colors. Abstract Expressionists, such as Lee Krasner, sought to express something that could not be conventionally written, heard, or visually articulated.
When focusing my attention on our world and communities such as those in Greater Los Angeles with the same eye that I did Noon, the familiar disjointed overwhelm that I experienced when I first saw Krasner's painting comes flooding back. Specifically, Dorothy Parker said, "Los Angeles is 72 suburbs in search of a city." Los Angeles has taken form over the years by distinct cities growing and blending together. So much so that one can no longer recognize the barriers and markers of each individual city. Within a thirty-minute time window, one may drive through two to three once distinct cities, now all sharing the catch-all name of Los Angeles. The dominating presence of this fast-paced city is akin to the powerful statement that the vibrant colors of Noon make. Furthermore, Los Angeles is a city that has created a home for a diverse array of communities in which individuals can find their people and place in the world. Lee Krasner's Noon, in the same light, is a piece that invites anyone in and allows them to find their own meaning within the painting.
Noon allows each visitor of the piece to form a unique relationship with the artwork. Similarly, each person who visits Los Angeles identifies with it differently. Personally, I relate more to the artist community that I have come to know in the short time I have spent there. Each color in Noon and each place within Los Angeles are all different and hold their own space but at the same time are at home with one another. Each brush stroke and each area of Los Angeles bring something new and distinct to the table, formulating and completing the bigger picture. In this case, the bigger picture being Noon and Greater Los Angeles. In some ways, Los Angeles has allowed abstraction to become literal and physical, drawing a relationship between these poles. There is a line that connects the internal experience of abstract artworks like Noon and the external world of places like Los Angeles.
Haley Hitchcock
"Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you," Jackson Pollock said, which is fitting considering he is one of the most widely known abstract expressionist artists, so he would know how to describe it. This style is often disregarded as not fully art or having no form to it, when it is quite the opposite. Abstract expressionism is a newly developed style of art that arrived out of the forties and fifties that allowed artists to create without alluding to the dark world around them. When dissecting and thinking about these types of artworks, it takes awhile to ponder and process the emotions felt within the paint. It's reminiscent of the way the character in "Abstract Expressionism" by Norman Rockwell is staring at the composition in front of him. Almost ironically, I found myself in the same position as the subject.
This portrait composition features a man dressed in apparel that resembles church or business wear. It's a gray fitted suit along with a brimmed hat and black dress shoes. His hat is off of his head and is being held in his hands together behind his back. He stands on a patterned tiled floor and in front of him, he appears to be studying an abstract expressionist painting. This square fictional canvas takes up more than half the length of the actual painting, and features many different colors splattered on it. These colors include red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black. He stands in the middle of the painting, seeming to step into the visual explosion in front of him.
The body language of the man is quite solid, having all of his attention directed towards the painting in front of him. All of his focus is on this object as he holds all his possessions behind him, possibly even making himself vulnerable to the material. If "abstract" confronts you, this man is about to take a beating. The way he exposes himself with his heart towards the painting is almost symbolic of what abstract expressionism is. It's a self-reflection or expression of emotions. It represents a lot more than just brush practice. The care in which paint is placed onto the canvas is hidden beneath the texture of itself. If you sit and ponder the painting, you can try to envision how each stroke was made and why it was made like that. Did the artist want to express anger? Did he want to cover a large area? Or did he just accidentally spill too much paint? What was the artist thinking about when creating this piece? All of this comes at you when you open yourself up to the confrontation of the painting. You can't help but have your attention caught by the bright canvas colors and the rugged textures of the paint. Abstract grabs you and makes you stand still enough to try to understand it.
The actual painting itself carries such a stark contrast between the imaginary canvas and the painted man viewing it that you yourself are drawn to the image. This man in an otherwise very dull environment is looking at such vivid work. I feel as though this symbolizes what most of the American people were going through at that time. This new conceptualized genre of painting that came during a time of heavy censorship allows the viewer to see something that isn't censored or has an underlying meaning. It shows itself for what it is, but the viewer can take it as whatever they want.
Beau Capanna
Dr. Tracy
First Writing/Opinion Paper
Jackson Pollock : Mural, 1943
For my first writing assignment, I had to go with Jackson Pollock and one of his crazy Abstract Expressionist pieces of art. Going off the PowerPoint, my favorite piece from Pollock has to be the "Mural" he was commissioned to create. This piece has movement, flow and not much story within it leaving it to the viewer to create his/her own story based upon their own imagination.
"There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was" (Jackson Pollock). The reason I chose this quote is because it really speaks to me as of how people view art and what it is. Art is a form of expression and creation, therefor it doesn't have to have a meaning.
Any artist could put up a canvas that is blank white and be the most famous piece ever created. Art tells a story through everyone and everyone sees something different in an artwork. "didn't have any beginning or any end", this is great for this mural because Pollock was paid to create a mural to fill space in someone's room.
Without looking at what others believe this mural is, in my opinion, Pollock wanted to make the room more busy and full of motion. For me, I see motion and people dancing with crazy winds and turns. I feel more movement and joy with this piece and would liven up a room easily. There is no beginning or end because there doesn't need to be, the story is what you make it to be and the reviewer clearly never could find his when gazing at one of Pollock's artworks.
"He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was". This is powerful stuff in this part of the quote, the reviewer didn't understand Pollock's work. Anyone, especially Pollock could paint a naked woman and have everyone cherish it and the techniques/creativity/craftsmanship within it so anyone and everyone may adore his skills.
More intriguing art like the "Mural" is much more enjoyable to look at (at least for me) because it isn't straight forward, giving me the chance to find what I believe it is. For me, the "Mural" is of dancing people and motion, some people believe it's Jackson Pollock's name hidden inside and some believe it's mushrooms, believing this is what Pollock saw when creating it.
Overall, this mural is extremely expressive in it's own style and doesn't have a beginning or an end. I don't believe there is a story behind it and it is up to the viewer to create their own story/image on their own imagination.
For my first writing assignment, I had to go with Jackson Pollock and one of his crazy Abstract Expressionist pieces of art. Going off the PowerPoint, my favorite piece from Pollock has to be the "Mural" he was commissioned to create.
"There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was" (Jackson Pollock). The reason I chose this quote is because it really speaks to me as of how people view art and what it is. Art is a form of expression and creation, therefor it doesn't have to have a meaning. Any artist could put up a canvas that is blank white and be the most famous piece ever created. Art tells a story through everyone and everyone sees something different in an artwork. "didn't have any beginning or any end", this is great for this mural because Pollock was paid to create a mural to fill space in someone's room.
"He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was". This is powerful stuff in this part of the quote, the reviewer didn't understand Pollock's work. Anyone, especially Pollock could paint a naked woman and have everyone cherish it and the techniques/creativity/craftsmanship within it, but more intriguing art like the "Mural" is much more enjoyable to look at (at least for me) because it isn't straight forward, giving me the chance to find what I believe it is. For me, the "Mural" is of dancing people and motion, some people believe it's Jackson Pollock's name hidden inside and some believe it's mushrooms, believing this is what Pollock saw when creating it.
Taylor Thompson
Art 477_1002
"There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was."
"Mural," (1943)is a painting that was created for Peggy Guggenheim, its massive size was nearly twenty feet long by eight feet tall, and was an important turning point in Jackson Pollock's career as a working artist. This piece combines abstract styles, easel painting, and is at the size of a standard large-scale mural. At this time Pollock received a gallery contract from Guggenheim and thus was getting new recognition for his works, fast-tracking his popularity; not to mention that his fame was further pushed in 1959 when featured in Life Magazine. As an important proponent for the start of the era of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock was bound to receive some criticism for his new techniques throughout and thoughts on this specific art form.
The quote that was fully made by Jackson Pollock stated, "Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you. There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." As was common with abstract expressionism, many of the paintings presented did not have a clear meaning, or even a beginning and end as the critic stated. However, this is what made them so revolutionary. Pollock and others of this time period were allowing viewers to draw from their own experiences and opinions, thus being able to reach a larger audience than some more "conventional" art pieces had been.
This particular piece opened new doors into the style of "action painting," this term created by Harold Rosenberg. The actual motion of traditional painting was being transformed into an art form itself. Pollock often said that he was never afraid of changing his creations because there was never any set outcome he wanted. Action painting now was based on the unconscious mind shaping the piece in the moment, which gives these pieces a sense of emotion many other works cannot replicate. Of course there would be no beginning or end as Pollock danced around the canvas to create these drip and pour paintings. The painter stated, "I feel nearer, more part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting." The lack of a starting point lets the viewers eyes move around the canvas, creating their own path.
Art cannot be framed in any particular way. By a reviewer saying there was not a specified start and finish to works created by Jackson Pollock it is no wonder why he took that as a compliment, and most likely Pollock's fellow painters of the time felt similarly about the comment. When I first looked at this piece I saw people moving and dancing across the length. However, Pollock later mentioned that this painting was a depiction of a stampede of every animal in the American West. This simply shows the diversity that expressionist's paintings can unveil in their meaning and content.
Jeremy Miller says:
Jeremy Miller
Art 477-1002
Jackson Pollock once said, "Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you." This is evident in Pollock's 1947 painting Lucifer. The painting is a 105-1/2-inch-long rectangle, with a 41-3/4-inch height. This is bigger than the average human body. In person, one must stand at a distance to view the entire painting. Paint in black and green spatters in seemingly random events. The green and black is highlighted with warm red and yellow specks. Underneath the bold expression of the paintings outer layer is a light blue, grey and beige tones. The contrast of the black paint makes areas of the painting appear to stand out. The image crates a type of quarrel within my mind. It would like to see an arrangement of paint spatters. However, it also cannot avoid giving intuition to what the abstract pattern looks like.
As I look at the image, the most unique and threatening thing I see is a notion of never ending change. What happens within the painting is compared to other things I have seen, and when they don't align the procedure starts again. I can also see the process of the artist standing above the painting. There is evidence were the paint fell from above or was flung to create a mark. The lines and drops of paint create a concept of looking upon a strange physical geography from above, with valleys and impossible rivers. This could be Reminiscent of Ganymede's ice sheets or even looking onto a heap of wiring. I think of moss and water emerging from the dark cracks. I attempt create a relationship to natural organic shapes and layers. There is also a feeling of something happening within the painting that could also continue after I look away. The movement within the painting also seems to change in places. This is because my eyes dart back and forth through the painting looking for points of reference. There are striations and hills with thin vertical, and diagonal lines cutting across one another. These sometimes take on different V shapes at the images center, and edges. There is what seems to be a pattern of textures and color. At times the painting itself appears to ungulate because my eyes try to focus on the contrast within smaller lines of paint.
Sparks of warm orange and yellow drift about the painting. Many of these brush marks are similar in their size and shape. I think they could be falling autumn leafs that somehow gained a shape in Pollock's painting. The painting itself, is bold and seems at times similar to a Wyoming landscape. However, the biblical reference in the paintings name is often used as a warning. Such as, "Lucifer's Pass Wyoming". Lake the paint it could have been a simple random thought that has no purpose other than something to put on a nameplate at a gallery. Having a reference to actual subject seems unnecessary given Pollock's process and level of abstraction.
Looking at the patterns within the painting provides me with a unique experience. I may associate the movement and assumed textures as something organic. There is a feeling of complexity here that is akin to many things piled on top of each other. It is very unique. If I remove the color, I can still recognize the patterns and the images main structures. In gazing upon the work of art it continues to visually change and move because there is no story I can tell my mind that would satisfy the subject of what I am looking at. Despite knowing this is Pollock's process of dotting and flinging paint. The appeal of the painting could be how it forces you to decide. Just as Pollock said, "it confronts you".
Annie Lin
First Opinion paper
Ed Kienholz was an American sculptor in the 20th century. His distinctive style of using found objects assemblage shocks contemporary society to look at the issues in the post war era. In his work, The Portable War Memorial, Kienholz mocked the reality in war and life. Robert Motherwell once said, "Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as beauty." Kienholz presents this ideology with tableau, he shows his anger for the Vietnam war in 1968, as well as the beauty in the concept behind his rusty figures and the delicate arrangements.
From the first glance, although The Portable War Memorial is full of contents, the viewer's eyes are directed to the troop at the left side of the image. The soldiers are claiming their victory. Except their flag is not recognizable. It appears to be a flyer, a piece of paper written with random stuff. Only after close examination and research, the viewer learned that it is a piece of paper which exchanges cigarette coupons in the 1930s. Yet, why did Keinholz choose it to represent the flag? To mock the mere importance of the nation? Or is it that no country actually wins this place? Or is it that the soldiers are fighting for the consumption nature of capitalism? On the other hand, the viewer notices the void underneath the helmets. Kienholz is probably suggesting the soldiers can be anyone. They can be any race and gender. On the other hand, the viewer reads that the soldiers don't have identities and importance. They are only some faceless figures for the glory of uncle Sam. As the viewer moves her eyes to the other parts of the sculpture, the theme behind the set up becomes clear.
Moving to the general set up of the sculpture, the war zone is placed at a casual, friendly hot dog stand. A couple are enjoying their leisure time, sharing drinks in the warm, cozy bar. A dog quietly sitting outside, looking into the distance. There is a soda machine standing at the outside, providing drinks to pass by for a quick break under the umbrella shade. Nothing from the outside, even warfare can tamper the serenity in this part of the world. The names are piled up on the tombstone on the far right side of the sculpture, the names of the countries that join the war are increasing, and the blank space on the cross suggests that the war can happen anytime, yet none of these can wake up people from their delusional belief. They think the war is never going to happen, at least not to their land. The world is as peaceful as it is in their normal daily life. Although the recruiting flyer by the stands specifies that Kienholz was directing his criticism to the American society in Vietnam war, the viewer sees this issue still persists in the 21st century.
If the tombstone in The Portable War Memorial imprints with the countries that join the war, the hot dog stand leaves its imprints in the developed and modernized societies. Wars are raised over resources and ideologies. In developed countries, people praise the ideologies they believed. They are against any dissent, they believe their own value is the absolute. Same thing happens with the other underdeveloped countries. In the end, there are too many different voices, and no space for them to coexist. They go to war, and the war zones are often set in the underdeveloped countries. The viewer can see the hot dog stand in places like America, Europe, and few of the countries in Asia. The people in these countries are enjoying their normal daily life, while the citizens in the war zone are suffering and the soldiers are losing their life for an ideology they are not even familiar with.
Going back to Robert Motherwell's quote, "Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger as well as beauty." What is the beauty in The Portable War Memorial? The viewer notices the balanced composition, the harmonious arrangement of pieces. On the other hand, nothing but the cruelty in the apathy and indifference of warfare appears in this sculpture. With the song "God Bless America" playing from the grotesque trash can woman figure, the viewer can only experience Kienholz's disgust toward the glittered, fake, and distorted American society. Reaching to this conclusion, the viewer notices the beauty comes from the heart of the artist. For Kienholz had the heart to raise his voice in the turbulent time. Many others raised their voice after seeing the war in Vietnam from their televisions. Today, activists continue to raise criticism over wars. Will the majority ever change? The answer is unknown, yet people are fighting for it, that is the beauty in The Portable War Memorial.
The Portable War Memorial is assembled through garbage, faded prints and broken figures, the whole set up is abstract and challenging. Further, the concept is significant in not only Kienholz's time. Kienholz displayed his anger towards war, and he was raising awareness. In the end, the viewer is able to appreciate the beauty in The Portable War Memorial. Kienholz helps the viewer to discover corruption, he encourages the viewer to wake up from their comfortable home, become aware of the war that is happening outside, and make a change.
Some source:
Image is on page 482 for the third edition book.
A high resolution walk through of the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8P2mnTFzjM
A great article that deciphers what is going on in Kienholz's mind when he created the piece: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-portable-war-memorial-commemorating-vd-day-191862/
Crysta Urata
Opinion Paper #1
"There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." – Jackson Pollock
Intertwining shapes, lines, forms. An attack of opposing colors that somehow work together. White space or another set of forms in between it all? A stretching landscape that seems endlessly moving, more so in photographs that capture spectators standing or passing by. This is Jackson Pollock's Mural. Beautiful as it is confusing and fascinating at first glance, I thought about Pollock's own quotations about the piece alongside my own thoughts that spiraled as I stared at it longer, and found that it had more and more meaning to it still.
The piece of art stands at 2.43 meters tall and runs 6.04 meters long. Nearly doubling the height of the average human being where it is mounted upon a gallery wall and running just short of the longest recorded great white shark (6.096 m, or 20 feet), this abstract masterpiece is as imposing physically as it may be to absorb mentally. I can only imagine the experience of seeing it in person, in comparison to admiring it from my laptop screen. The fact that I can infer that it was completely rendered using only black, white, and the the three primary colors makes me appreciate it even more. Yes, I know many pieces do the same, but in this case each one is recognizable and vivid, with the blues very pronounced if not slightly enhanced by a splash of yellow or a splash of white; the reds like little thorns that make me wonder if this stampede of organisms within the piece are all "friends" or simply part of an active, primal ecosystem; the yellows like rays of sunlight as they fuel and brighten the life in this landscape; and the black and white serving to cut each jumbled scene just enough to be comprehended.
I have painted a self-portrait using the primary colors for my 2D Art Fundamentals class at UNLV, and though it was only about the size of a standard piece of printer paper, I feel I can connect it and the experience of making it to how I envision Pollock made this. Both pieces are abstract, use vibrant colors, and are an extension of what the maker was feeling just prior and during it. In his case, he had a sudden burst of inspiration, essentially started and never stopped working until it was fully realized, and he was likely fueled by pressure, frustration, and perhaps the bliss of knowing he would be able to finish his prompt for his client; that's what I see in his tangled "mess" of forms that are embracing as much as they seem to be attacking one another. In my own work I had the pressure of several classes and a lot of internal problems swirling in my head that I was able to somewhat "vent" out through this art class, which is why I included swirls in the art's eyes, furrowed brows, crooked glasses, and parted lips. Though of course this was much more personal and at a far lower stake than in Pollock's case, I think it's wonderful that art work can allow its artist to pour themselves- in that moment- onto a canvas, and let that moment continue to thrive and live apart from the artist. Others continue to see these works and get their own meaning from them. Others continue to like or dislike, be confused or have their moments of clarity, and in doing so project themselves onto the piece as well. Whether the artist can feel or hear each speck of experience that viewers receive from it, this in itself allows every piece to be without end. Whether every moment is seen or captured on camera, each instance- since the second the art came into existence to the end of time- continues its story.
Monette Felipe
Robert Rauschenberg once said, "There was something about the self-confession and self-confusion of Abstract Expressionism—as though the man and the work were the same—that personally always put me off because at that time my focus was in the opposite direction." An artist who I believe took this idea of self-representation through their work and created a unique sense of intimacy was Joan Mitchell. With Mitchell's artwork, she engages with her remembered feelings about a particular place or part of her life in a way that she disclaims any interest in self-expression creating indirect yet powerful statements. An example of her work that paints her construction of her self-identity was Weeds painted in 1976. Rather than viewing the artist and the work as the same, Weeds is one of Mitchell's paintings in which her self-expression can view the landscape and the work as the same.
When I am looking at this painting, I initially thought of the color palette and how different it was to the way I personally perceive the color of weeds. I began to question why Mitchell chose this certain color palette of navy, orange, pinks, and purples and thought it may have a personal connection to her emotions associated with weeds. With the rush of colors and the warping technique of how it is brushed onto the canvas, the composition is a complete abstraction of impalpable color. The way the colors multiply and change in this chaotic motion almost depicts a fought unity between abstraction and the references of nature, eventually putting order to the sea of paint. The painting holds a sense of unity, in a way that represents nature in a new light. There are parts of the painting that have uncertainties by the way some brushstrokes are more violent than others. It made me realize that this is a representation of nature viewed through Mitchell's perspective and is purposely painted in this way to share her feelings connected to it.
What I find so intriguing about Weeds is how it does not depict a certain subject matter; however, it alludes to Mitchell's awareness that there is something tangible and expressive about nature and landscape. The dissimilar uses of paint could reflect contradictory forces and emotions or the complex nature of the way weeds move across land. This concept of the nonrepresentational aesthetic in a way that reinvents the principles of abstract expressionism is very enticing and incredible to imagine being done in Mitchell's way. Had the work been arranged differently in a different style, the symbolic connection between landscape and the work would not be as strongly executed. I think that Weeds entices spectators from the past and the present with its tremendous space and infiltrating color that is able to interact through the aesthetic language Mitchell expresses.
Isabel Razo
Jackson Pollock, Mural, 1943
"There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." (Jackson Pollock)
Abstract art first originated in New York in the 1940s after WW2. The overall theme of abstract expressionism is the expression of one's emotions on a canvas while at the same time being spontaneous and subjective. One artist in particular who really defined Abstract Expressionism is Jackson Pollock. He was born on January 28, 1912, in Cody, Wyoming but spent most of his professional life in New York. Even from a young age, Pollock had always been fascinated with art which inspired him to enroll in Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles California. At the age of 18, he moved to New York and started studying with regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton, at the Art Students League. There he started to create paintings that got individuals interested in his work. One person in particular who was interested in Pollock and his work was Peggy Guggenheim. Peggy was an art collector who commissioned Pollock to create a mural for her New York townhouse which was also featured at her Art Of This Century Gallery.
Mural was not only the largest work Pollock but it was also considered a breakthrough for Abstract Expressionism. The story goes that the night before Guggenheim's deadline Pollock started and completed the entire piece, transforming the canvas into a "stampede" of colors. While research suggests that it was actually created during a longer time frame it still brings up a good point of how Jackson Pollock's paintings didn't really have a beginning or an end just like this quote states, "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." For this piece, in particular, Mural, we know that he had a hard time trying to figure out where to start and in what direction he wanted to take the painting. In later years we know that he treats his painting like they have their own lives and this may also be the case for this painting. Knowing now that he could have possibly taken months on this painting it is possible that Pollock would start the painting and then later feel that it is not complete and keep painting over it. This idea of giving objects a human sense isn't a new idea, in fact, many artists use this ideology in their own work because they feel it gives them a deeper connection with that object. Often times it is described as a book where you are completed with a chapter in your life but the book is not done yet. We can see this same ideology in Pollocks paintings in how he could feel like a painting is complete one moment and then not another and goes back and keep going.
Some of the very key features of the painting include the use of Pollock's drip painting technic in combination with traditional brush strokes. The swirling colorful form the brush strokes take on lead your eye everywhere on the canvas almost making it appear as graffiti that has been layered over and over again especially because of his use of yellow and black in the painting. The overall composition of the painting has a lot of negative space which allows for the viewer to really see how defined the black and dark blue colors are. My favorite part of this painting is that it has a consistent feel throughout almost making the story of it being created in one day look true.
While Pollock died on August 11, 1956, in an alcohol-related single-car accident his work still lives on today through not only his paintings but his ideology. Before Pollock, many painters did not let themselves stray away from traditional methods of painting such as only using a brush to paint and using an Easel. Once people began to let go of the traditional way of painting they began to feel more free to do what they wanted/felt.
Andrew Yau
Jackson Pollock has been quoted for many things, and not always just for art, and
one such quote was, "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was.". Going through our textbook one of the works that seemed to resonate with this quote the most is Kazuo Shiraga's Work 2 made in 1958 with oil and paper in the dimensions of 183 x 243 cm. There are many things one can read and feel from this piece, but using Pollock's quote served as a very nice starting point that allowed me to truly appreciate the main effect this piece had on me. When viewing the work it is very hard to keep one's eye from wandering all over the place, all of the visual aspects of Work 2 come together to make the viewer feel both visually trapped and exhausted.
First of all, the white of the paper that peeks through at the edges of the piece
nicely frames it along with contrasting with the red and black paint of the piece. In particular, the way the red paint soaks into the paper gives it more of a blood-like quality which likely wouldn't have been achieved if Shiraga had used a regular painting canvas. Furthermore, the shade of red is used to add vibrancy and an energy to the piece, and when that is mixed with the image of blood it leads one to view the red as violent and high energy. Then there are the black strokes that were painted very thick, and likely while the red paint was still wet as evident by some areas looking more brown than black as a result of the two colors mixing. The black strokes also contribute to the overall movement and energy that the piece has but also adds in a much more chaotic element, due to how visually different it is to the red paint, along with serving as a guide for a viewer's eye to follow.
In combination these three primary elements of the piece come together to trap
and exhaust the viewer as mentioned before. The contrasting of the three colors, along with the large size of the piece, will catch the viewers attention easily. Once viewing the piece it's made apparent that the red is the brightest element of the artwork, yet it is not what the viewer will be focused on, instead they will be led to the black because it has made very distinct visual pathways for the viewer's eye to explore. Once there the eye is led in various directions throughout the piece, twisting and turning, all the while with the vibrant red in one's peripheral vision and peeking through some parts of the broken up black strokes. The red serves as a constant brightness that feels like you've been looking at a bright screen for too long, the black strokes will lead back onto themselves which gives the viewer's eyes no place to rest, and if one tries to stay on the bits of white on the edges of the work there are always black and red in close proximity to it which leads the viewer back in. All of these elements working in combination is what makes Work 2 so ensnaring, and without a beginning or ending that purposely exhausts the viewer as they continue looking at it.
enginesi says:
Irem Ergunes
Art 477-1002, Art 473-1001, Art 434-1001
"Lavender Mist" by Jackson Pollock reminds me that art can always exist. The reason for that is not what the work tells us, but the feeling that leads us to think roughly processed around it. The melodies express the thoughts which Pollock set up in my mind. Pollock, the person who dances with their paints on them while making his paintings, pulls the audience's content as it has abstract essences in it. Although there is no lavender image in the artwork, the reason why he gave that title "Lavender Mist" is the atmospheric impact that is gotten from the paint.
The composition in Lavender Mist consists of splashed and dripped paint strokes, color spots, and areas of color in the appearance of a rope covering the surface on the canvas that surrenders it from corner to corner. These color lines, on a significantly larger surface, become thinner and thicker on different spots. Still, this distribution is so homogeneous that whether the eye is drawn to a certain point or not appears over the entire surface by being caught at the abstract flow of the influential artwork. Colors almost blend perfectly. Pollock created this by applying dark lines and sweat on the weak areas. The irregular repetition of the color lines gives the artwork a complex rhythm.
I see patience and impatience together in Pollock's paintings because only a very impatient person applies such techniques as dripping and allover. In addition to that, also a very patient artist can achieve success in a style like his. Dancing on the canvas with colors as the start of his paintings is a physical step of action painting, a technique where artists see the canvas as an arena. This movement evokes the significance of being spontaneous in the art, which Pollock shows us by saying, "Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you" Pollock paints his painting without putting the paint directly on the canvas. It uses liquid and flowing paint. He does not bring the brush closer to the canvas to brush; instead of that, He uses the brush like a stick and draws it without touching it. This controlled randomness is Pollock's conscious choice, not an accident.
On the other hand, I think that the paintings we sit down to draw should not be rushed and completed by being absorbed. That's why I believe that spontaneous brushstrokes are sloppy. However, I would like to underline that the picture is not just about what they want to draw. So, I think that while painting, focusing only on the image, face, the landscape we want to achieve as a result means using the picture as a tool.
The contribution of the chance to art is directly related to probability and art's emphasis on causality. I believe that every choice in life is conscious, and choices lead us to chance. We need to sit down and reflect on coincidences, draw them, remember our memories. Otherwise, the choices we make will be less assimilated, and over time the coincidences will disappear one by one from both our canvas and our lives.
Considering that even the abstract is stuck into concepts and assumes a particular image, it is understandable that Pollock applied his signature technique and stood out from perspectives of abstract expressionism. It is debatable whether he did something that no one could do with great creativity. However, his style and technique are somewhat incomprehensible, and it creates a perception according to his perfection.
There is a frequently recurring theme of contrast in Pollock's paintings that stole my heart and earned my respect. When I think of concepts such as finite infinity, depth on a two-dimensional plane, and orderly chaos, I think of the contrasts and oxymorons that have a significant and profound place in my life. Greater Los Angeles, with its messiness and un-finished constructions that give the feeling of deficiency next to the beauty of the coastal line, city life, and architectural gems, is another excellent example of an oxymoron.
Los Angeles is a city where little urbanites are not very active, rather than developing at the center of a city center, where people stay without trousers rather than cars. However, Cees Nooteboom says, "With their cars, Angelenos go places, they travel infinite numbers of kilometers in a world that continuously remains Los Angeles." and adds, "Cars do not designate a lack of freedom but rather freedom itself." It is hard to survive in Los Angeles without driving, but the car is more than just a tool for transportation for some people. This pleasure is a complete hedonistic feeling in Greater Los Angeles while there is situated peace and joy in its chaos.
I think the noble thing that reflects the spirit of a city is the people and the experiences that the city offers. The diversity of people in Los Angeles is nowhere else on earth. As soon as you step into those lands, you become a member of the human communities that you despise, the malfunctions of the system are fully contracted with a reflex. Chris DeRubeis says, "All art should inspire and evoke emotion. Art should be something you can feel." In Los Angeles, it's a definite feeling as it's full of inspiration and art. On the other hand, besides all the artists and the cultural background, there's an undeniable Los Angeles side that makes you feel isolated and deserted. Like the painful reality that makes me horrified when I look at the "Wheatfield with Crows" by Vincent Van Gogh.
Vincent van Gogh's paintings have a blue background that makes me sad. Blues is the only thing I see in his works where he uses such vivid and original colors. "Wheatfield with Crows" is a masterpiece of sadness with perhaps its most blue color, and it's filled with a melancholia that gives an impression of his life tragedy. There's a sky yellow field with blue and grays and a herd of crows forming a diagonal line with the middle road in this work. The lanes in three directions seem to lead nowhere in the picture. Looking at the picture, especially the grayish sky and crows, awaken the atmosphere of gloom. The fact that the middle road seen in the image does not lead anywhere also strengthens this pessimistic atmosphere. It is also known that this picture is one of the last paintings made by the painter. In light of this information, the roads with no exit shown in the image; It can be stated that the artist now symbolizes the end of the road. It is seen that Van Gogh created a world in line with his passions and feelings; It can be stated that this reflects the world he created. The understanding we call modern painting is based on reflecting reality. In this context, I consider Vincent van Gogh a great example in the short demonstration of getting rid of the phenomenon and contemplating modern painting's inner reality.
Kelsey Neill
"There are two distinct languages. There is the verbal, which separates people…and there is
the visual that is understood by everybody." – Yaacov Agam
Artwork Referenced: Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear,
It's akin to speaking a foreign language that no one can understand. Alienated, and fearful because you can understand them with their sharp words, their brows furrowed in disgust, spitting that you're a "lunatic", and how that echoes relentlessly through the night. But you're used to it, and you've grown up with it, being misunderstood. It's second nature, and you have accepted that you're just a defect from the rest of them, your mortality fully-aware, and happiness never welcomingly cradling you. You've admitted yourself to an asylum because of this, and you think to yourself, at long last, in your seclusion there is the solitude that the normal people don't have to suffer through your despair, suffer through watching you suffer. You hate being a burden to the happier ones. The air whistles and the void above swirls with blues as you dip your paint brush in the murky glass of water.
A week has passed after that incident. Your consciousness is blurry, and there's a dull pain on the right side of your head that throbs every so often. Your ear is bandaged. Thinking that you lost a part of yourself, thinking that you may have lost everything that you've got going for yourself to finally heal, you begin to paint. Straight vertical lines of bright cadmium yellow appear on canvas in a controlled manner. It calms you, and for a second you think you're finally at peace as you smooth the bristles with ease. More layers are applied, more yellows and more blues side by side, to express your melancholy more forcefully. Then you begin to paint over your face, clashing strokes of chrome orange, zinc yellow, zinc white, cobalt blue, and emerald. That's when the strokes start to bend and swirl, and suddenly, it's like you're face to face with a mirror image of yourself. That's right, you did cut off part of your right ear, and you did make a fool out of yourself. Feeling as though you've failed as an artist, the sadness consumes you even further. The shrieks and whispers of revulsion echo in your head.
Years of painting, and having only sold one of them, you ask yourself if people can truly see you through your brush strokes. Does that mean they can see my turmoil? Do people appreciate the expression of myself and want to actively purchase and display it proudly? Is all this some sick joke to them? You stare at the stacks of opened letters scattered on the floor, and wonder if everything would turn out alright, if Gauguin saw you as the monster you see yourself as, and if dear Theo would continue reaching out to you.
Ira Macorncan says:
Ira Macorncan
From the various pieces that we've looked at many of them are so similar, yet also unique; It was something to consider while choosing a particular painting or work. But something about Joan Mitchell's: Garden piece that stuck out for me. While having the title be called Garden the expressive movement of colors gives me somewhat of a calm feeling. The vibrancy of it all without it needed to take any particular shape or form just seems to put me at ease. But because it has no shape or form it can't be totally defined about it's content or the context. There's no true visual of a story, and because of it I believe it all to be more interesting. It allows you to just wonder. The power of human imagination is a strong thing, allowing the human mind to think up things from the most mundane to the most amazing, eccentric visuals in your mind. Your own mind can tell a story when it becomes inspired. The Garden gives me a tranquil thought when looking at the different colors and strokes. Almost as if you're looking out a window, yet because of the distance you can't truly make out what you're seeing. You assume it to be lush and full of life, common knowledge from your mind would tell you it's mostly green, with some splashes of other colors, it must be a beautiful garden. But because it's not clear it lets your mind wander about what makes up those colors. Maybe it's a small garden with lush flowing green leaves with a few rows of flowers around? Perhaps it's a forest with a large array of flora scattered about? There's no definitive answer, and I like that leaving it mostly up to the viewer's interpretation by only giving us colors, vague shapes, and a premise of the word garden. There's no true answer nor is there a wrong or right answer, just as much as there's no story in the visual, and that there is no true beginning or end. Which is why I feel this quote works well. "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." (Jackson Pollock) While he is referring to his own work, I believe it still works in the context. Not everything needs to tell a story, nor does it need to be cohesive or well thought out. Sometimes things just need to be a feeling, an expression of what you are or was feeling at the time. Maybe something that would inspire them or invoked a feeling within. And the piece shows us this not through the image, but through the colors and strokes. Heavier splotches of paint, long strokes of colors, short bursts of vibrant strokes here and there. You can try to piece out emotions or actions one does when making certain works of art. Painting I feel is one of those methods, since it relies heavily on how one uses their brush, how much paint they use, and the blending of colors to create an image. And the Garden clearly does a lot of that. So these elements combined just lets my mind wander a lot especially when looking at specific areas of the painting(s) too. Of course it's never expected for anyone to share the same thoughts as me about the painting nor to expect it to be exactly what the artist interpreted. And I find that to be why it's a great example of an abstract piece of art. It makes you think, it makes you wonder, it gives you feelings or thoughts by just the visuals alone without examining it closer. Of course having you think about it, is the ideal point of an abstract piece, but personally I don't always think about many abstract pieces too much. For me most pieces either don't interest me enough to get my attention for very long, or I sometimes never understood what I was meant to be looking at other than say twisted imagery or splotches of paint. So for this one to get my attention and to make me think, kind of helps me understand a bit more of some abstract work. Even if my mind still isn't used to it, I believe Joan Mitchell did a wonderful job even if she seemed to be in Pollock's shadow.
rockes1234 says:
Quote used
"All art should inspire and evoke emotion. Art should be something you can actually feel." (Chris DeRubeis)
Artist – Lee Krasner
Work – "Cool White"
The philosophy behind art and the feelings it provokes has always been something that has fascinated me. Why are we so emotionally attached to art? Is it because it is beautiful? Perhaps it emits sadness or creates a feeling of sorrow. Maybe it reminds us of something we lost or once knew. Art is all around us and is always playing with our emotions in good ways or bad. For my writing assignment, I have chosen Lee Krasner's famous painting, "Cool White." Specifically, I want to focus on the painting, and how the death of, Jackson Pollock, and the struggles that surrounded Krasner influenced her to create a work of art with so much emotion. Throughout my writing, I will be reflecting on Chris DeRubei's quote and how Krasner was able to create art that one can truly feel.
Initial thoughts of the work
The first time I looked at the painting "Cool White", it gave me the chills. What do I feel when I look at this painting? Mystery, sorrow, maybe even anger. I would imagine these are similar emotions that Krasner was feeling during the creation of this work. At first glance, one can instantly tell that there is so much life, emotion, and feeling circulating throughout the image. One has to wonder which emotion did she want us to experience? When she made this painting and the other pieces she associated with this series, she underwent much trauma. The most glaring one being the recent loss of her husband as well as her mother. This must have had a great effect on the outcome of the painting since it really is like no other work in her portfolio.
Examination of the painting
Next, I want to look deeper into some of the physical elements of the image. Look at the brushstrokes. She almost seems like she is enraged. The linework seems violent and thrown on messily to the canvas. The black spots / dark areas that she creates are intriguing. They almost seem like voids or places of emptiness. As my eyes work their way across the image, the light and dark spots generate artwork of its own. The lack of color in the painting is a design choice that we regularly did not see from Krasner. For "Cool White", she has chosen an off-white color as well as the presence of black. In a lot of her other works, colors were always present. During the creation of this artwork, she struggled with insomnia and depression which is something that no one should have to go through. She used painting as a way to help her when she couldn't sleep as well as give her a sense of joy in tough times. Perhaps this time of sadness filled her with gloom and sorrow, which ultimately lead her to stray away from color.
The last thing I want to contemplate is the true meaning of the painting. Does the work even have a subject matter, or is it completely abstract? The only thing we have to go off of is the name, and even that is relatively abstract. While it may not be specific in what the work is trying to tell us, it represents the idea of the culmination of sorrow, anger, and the struggle she felt during this time period. I believe this work's purpose was to help us remember Jackson Pollock and express her sorrows. I would imagine this was difficult for her to work on, but she created it to help evoke a feeling not only in herself but also for the viewers.
I think many individuals become artists because they want to evoke or spark emotion within themselves or those around them. Lee Krasner is an icon to the artist community that genuinely devoted her life to creating pieces that emitted real feelings. Making her work abstract forces us, as the viewer, to look at the painting and imagine what she wanted us to feel. Chris DeRubeis' quote is something that all aspiring artists should implement into their artwork.
Jimmy Truong
Art 473 – 1001/477 – 1002
Art 473 & 477 Writing Assignment One
Jackson Pollock's works have been observed by millions of people all over the world. Although the average person might not give any consideration towards his paintings, most are still highly sought after many decades later, with many of his pieces still being circulated around the world, having toured hundreds of different art museums and galleries to this very day. Being one of the greatest figures when it comes to abstract expressionism, Pollock has been highly regarded as one of the most significant artists from the United States. Known for his abstract paintings that many deemed were just paintings filled with chaos and randomness, Pollock still made waves within the art world with his pieces. At first glance, many would look at his paintings and either try to come up with a complex story that they believe the paintings were trying to tell, or they would ridicule his paintings and disregard the pieces as something entirely done randomly in the spur of the moment. Pollock's pieces were widely regarded not because of what resulted from his artistic abilities, but because of the process and methods it took for him to produce such pieces. With his paintings being described as pieces filled with "chaos," Pollock has even had to address said comments by exclaiming, "No chaos, damn it!" when describing his pieces. I think this gave a lot of spectators more insight on what his paintings could have actually meant.
Many of his paintings are incredibly fascinating. Looking at the end results and trying to figure out what was going through Pollock's mind is something that is incredibly difficult to understand, and it is a process to comprehend the emotions the artist is trying to convey in his paintings. What we do know, is that while Pollock is painting, he is painting as if he is within his canvas. To be able to observe his canvas from all different angles, Pollock is easily allowed to move around as he wishes whenever he paints. Already having not been like your conventional artist, Pollock has stated, "I continue to get further away from the usual painter's tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or a heavy impasto with sand, broken glass or other foreign matter added." The painter has used all types of tools at his disposal and still created many outstanding pieces. Not only that, but the way he moved himself and his brush across his canvases had been incredibly foreign for the time. Instead of creating small sketches to plan out what he had wanted to achieve from his paintings, Pollock had instead painted by following his instincts. He painted with his thoughts and emotions first in mind and colored his canvas in such a way that many people witnessing his method of painting considered he himself was dancing on his canvas.
A lot of his paintings convey heavy feelings of emotion and movement with the way the paint is splattered and dripped across the canvas. With pieces like Cathedral, Lucifer, Autumn Rhythm, Convergence, Blue Poles, and Lavender Mist, it was hard to decide on which piece I wanted to write about. In the end, I decided to choose his most famous work, Mural, because the movement and colors used within the painting mesmerized me. This piece that Pollock was commissioned to create uses movement so well that every time I look back on it, it feels as if something was moved around when I last laid my eyes on it. Standing at a whopping 8 feet tall and being stretched 20 feet wide, this painting has been known as one of Pollock's greatest achievements to date. The movement and flow in the painting draws my eyes constantly up and down the piece, only for me to have to do it again on another part of the painting. What's fascinating is that the paint strokes on the canvas give me the sensation of "dancing." The lines and swirls give off the feelings of people twirling around one another on a dance floor. The dark paint dancing around with the other brighter colored paints gives it a feeling of joyfulness as well. That is how I interpreted the piece, and what's wonderful is that there is no definitive way to look at this painting. There is no clear-cut explanation as to what is going on. How one interprets this piece is entirely up to the individual themselves, and I think that that alone is incredibly charming.
Many of his paintings feel as if they don't have any goals in mind. There is no feeling of time or concept. Pollock just in a way "feels" as he goes while he is in the process of painting, with his emotions and immediate thoughts being the ones that lead him as he goes along his canvas. Jackson Pollock recalled, "There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't mean it as a compliment, but it was." This quote is incredibly deep the more I look into it. The quote really gives me the feeling of timelessness. It also gives me the feeling that, just like statements, paintings and art can be interpreted differently than how it might be for anyone else. The reviewer had said that Pollock's paintings did not have a beginning or any end and might be insinuating that his paintings didn't have any real purpose as well, which at the time many would agree with. Pollock took this as a compliment though because he did not want his paintings to have a real beginning or end.. He wanted his paintings to stand on its own and for observers to take it for what it was. He wanted viewers to be able to draw their own conclusions and opinions from looking at his paintings.
One would not need to understand anything that was going on to appreciate the painting that sat in front of them. Mural allowed people to look at it without thinking too much into it. One does not need any prior knowledge or understanding of anything to appreciate this piece. Witnessing the piece is already an experience in and of itself and being able to see Pollock in the process of painting is even more so an experience many would wish they had the opportunity to observe.
Sydney-Paige Kay says:
Dear Professor Tracy,
Whether or not one is a fellow artist, studying artworks by renowned artists is of great importance due to its ability to educate and permit visual interpretation expansion. When faced with analyzing a painting, one cannot merely glance at a work of art and truly understand the depths of what the artist is conveying; one must begin with the intent to find and yearn for the discovery. In the case of Jackson Pollock's 1943 painting titled, "Mural," if one were to glance at the massively abstract landscape, one would neglect to discover the beauty behind each brushstroke as it expanses the 160-square foot long canvas. As though looking through the lens of a camera, I happen to see the result of this countries greatest painter as he embodied Abstract Expressionism, AE, as one of the founding fathers of this movement.
Jackson Pollock played a detrimental role in the Abstract Expressionism movement, paving future artists' way to come. While Jackson Pollock's paintings are divergent to Giorgio Vasari and Raphael's works, Pollock's works illustrate many similarities when analyzing his work from a broader perspective. Through the conscious use of color, attention to detail, precision in placement of brush strokes, and ability to tell a story, Pollock incorporates much of what Giorgio Vasari and Raphael embody in their paintings, in a new and contrasting way.
When analyzing the "Mural," one can see AE does not tell a straightforward story; that would be Realism. Instead, AE takes hold of the fundamental image or concept and transforms it into one that births questions, uncertainty, and freedom to interpret. Interestingly, Cecil Balmond stated that "The abstract has no emotional content…the abstract is more powerful the more abstract it is." While this may have some truth when speaking of other paintings, I disagree, since Pollock's 1943 painting titled "Mural" truly exhibits Pollock's work in the shape and form of words and illuminates the utter truth and emotion of his creation. While a painting can exude emotion through a character, transporting the viewer with the strength of the emotions generated, emotion can also be interpreted by the brushstrokes or the colors an artist chooses for a canvas. Emotions are not a simple construct, they are fluid, and while we can depict a person in a state of happiness, anger, or even sadness, the way one feels is not simplistic. Allowing the more abstract works to dive deeper into the way colors, textures, strokes of a brush, and the brush's placement allows the emotion that drives the artist to be embedded in the canvas. In my personal opinion, when first looking at Pollock's "Mural," I feel as though it generates an immediate sensation of warmth, happiness, and excitement.
When Pollock signed with Peggy Guggenheim in July of 1943 for a mural to be done for her new Townhouse foyer, she chose Pollock as a protégé (as a result of Howard Putzel, Guggenheim's assistant secretary who urged her to offer the project to Pollock). She paid him $150 each month and a settlement at the end if his paintings were sold. Surprisingly, Peggy Guggenheim left the subject of the mural up to Pollock, which he chose, creating the American Western landscape titled "Mural." The completion was to be for his November showing but was not completed in time. It is said that Pollock complained of having a block and was unable to start the painting for some time and that it was completed within a day of Guggenheim's deadline. However, years later, with restoration done on the Mural, it was found that there were many layers under the actual painting; however, the forms appeared as though they were done at one time.
Jackson Pollock best describes the "Mural" as a vision when he says: "It was a stampede…[of] every animal in the American West, cows and horses and antelopes and buffaloes. Everything is charging across that goddamn surface." In my opinion, growing up in Wyoming, Arizona, and California had a strong influence on Pollock and his painting of the Mural. Upon reflection, one can see abstraction and freedom in some sort in the figures within the Mural. Pollock embraces Benton's rhythmic use of paint, his fierce independence, and energetic rhythms. At the same time, the swirling colors, influenced by the American artist Albert Pinkham Ryder of teal and yellow, and the black brushstrokes influences of the Spanish Baroque artist, El Greco can be seen in the "Mural" as a turning point for American art. (Pollock II.pptx) many artists inspired Pollock; however, he created works that imitated no other, while speaking emotion and stories into his work. Pollock's work was far from the norm. In his painting titled "Mural," he did not just throw paint at a canvas willy nilly; rather, he created a work that spoke to him and exuded emotion, illustrating his thought process through each brushstroke that he carefully placed.
When Pollock spoke of his evolving work, he stated, "I continue to get further away from the usual painter's tools such as easel, palette, brushes, etc. I prefer sticks, trowels, knives and dripping fluid paint or a heavy impasto with sand, broken glass or other foreign matter added." (Pollock II.pptx) Pollock opened the door to a new world when he stepped away for the usual painter's tools and inspired many others to think unconventionally through his open discussion with the public.
Interestingly, Pollock felt more at ease when tacking un-stretched canvas onto the hardwood floor where he would be able to walk around and literally be in the painting while working. Pollock did not just start to inspire individuals to think outside the box in 1943; rather, he started years before revolutionizing the art world by introducing liquid paint in 1936. Liquid paint enabled artists to drip and brush splatter paint in ways that could never be achieved before and made many of his works possible. Pollock believed in being one and in the painting, with harmony, the easy of "give and take," you to have art with a life of its own and that otherwise, it would be just a mess. In other words, Pollock believed that he and his painting had to be one and the same, which I interpret as being a way for him to immerse himself, mind, body, and emotion into his creative process. While there is no physical display of emotion in Pollock's work titled "Mural" I sense that there is an immense quantity of emotion that can be seen through the details within Pollock's work.
During the McCarthy Trial (1950), abstract subject matter became a safe strategy for artists and was seen as apolitical (McCarthy to Pollock.pptx). Even though it was said by American critic Clement Greenberg "I took one look at it and I thought, 'Now that's great art,' and I knew Jackson was the greatest painter this country had produced." not all agreed. Director Francis Henry Taylor and Curator Robert Beverly were hostile to advanced art—especially AE. Despite the size of the canvas and the fact that he had never accomplished such a large-feet before this commission, he persevered and ultimately created a masterpiece that canvased an entirety of the 160 square foot canvas. Pollock is now widely known for breaking down barriers and for being the founder of AE.
CeCe Kay
During the McCarthy Trial (1950), abstract subject matter became a safe strategy for artists and was seen as apolitical (McCarthy to Pollock.pptx). Even though it was said by American critic Clement Greenberg "I took one look at it, and I thought, 'Now that's great art,' and I knew Jackson was the greatest painter this country had produced." not all agreed. Director Francis Henry Taylor and Curator Robert Beverly were hostile to advanced art—especially AE. Despite the size of the canvas and the fact that he had never accomplished such a large-feet before this commission, he persevered and ultimately created a masterpiece that canvased an entirety of the 160 square foot canvas. Pollock is now widely known for breaking down barriers and for being the founder of AE.
Art 477 Sept 1 Pollock II.pptx
Art 477 August 27 Modernism I McCarthy to Pollock.pptx
**PLEASE READ IMPORTANT** This is the correction that I am making as I originally posted this on the wrong blog as I have emailed you. So I am posting this again along with attaching this essay along with the email that I sent to with my final paper. I am so sorry about this mistake.
Phichapa Tippawang (Crystal)
9 SEPT, 2020
Art 477 First Writing Assignment: Lee Krasner
During such times after so many challenges and changes that the abstract expressionist artists went through in the beginning of the twentieth century, it is not surprising that art has changed its form and appearances. The emotional, social, and political turmoil during the 1940s has changed the way artists use their medium to express themselves. From the lecture about the Ninth Street Show, there were so many conflicts and internal troubles among the artists to even get the show started. Of course, the ones who are invisible and have always been kept as a none, or at least second, priority were women and women artists. It is hard to imagine what their frustrations, anger, and anxiety for their careers were like. The quote "Abstract Expressionism was the first American art that was filled with anger and beauty" by Robert Motherwell encapsulates Lee Krasner's untitled work from 1940.
The black and white piece was done with very expressive, imprecise strokes. The piece had a lot of smudging and bold, expressive lines that extend in all directions of the canvas. The values of the dark and lightness contain such a multitude of emotions and direction of Krasner's rhythms. I can almost see her inner emotions swaying her and pulling her hands and body as she created the piece. While it is wonderfully balanced, the darker strokes and fills imply darker emotions. Perhaps it is her frustration and anger that she feels as a woman during that time. Krasner was a talented artist who deserves recognition within her rights. For male artists to be in charge of deciding the fate of her art shows based on her gender instead of her talent must have been infuriating for her. Even though it was her choice to step down and let her husband take the spotlight, Krasner must have been fighting her internal battles and frustrations. There is no doubt that she loved her husband, but how soul crushing was it for her to be known as "Pollock's wife" instead of being known for her own talents, or even her own name.
While Krasner is left alone to feel her own rhythm for the work, she is letting those emotions out, not keeping the piece very clean or pristine. The piece looks like it was done with charcoal on paper. The "messy smudges" and blending coming out of the main lines also looks like it was hand-smudged, so it's unlikely that Krasner kept her hands or clothes perfectly clean while doing that. So it's kind of a perfect parallel of anger and frustration that are seen as the messy or unwelcomed emotions to be expressed in abstract, indescribable dark lines that want to escape the paper and go out everywhere.
The last thing that needs to get touched on is the subject of anger and beauty. If it is believed that the art is a part of the artist, then there are so many layers of social and political construct to be unfolded. While there were seventy two artists admitted into showing their art at the Ninth Street Show, there were only five women artists. Should Krasner have remained as a doormat or goddess muse for artists but not be known as an artist herself? For her to be valued for her beauty or for her to create aesthetically beautiful or dainty work, instead of her expressive pieces that can translate her anger and frustration? What if she had taken that fame instead of stepping down for her husband to be the world renowned artist? As a woman abstract artist myself, would my inner turmoils be received well if I were famous? But that may be the positive thing about expressionism: anger and beauty form together to create a piece of art that so many others can relate to.
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