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Today is Jackson Pollock's Birthday. I love how large he painted and how he got LOST in the work. Some say a little too lost:)
My friend Angie http://pickmybrainsart.blogspot.com/ is having a few of our close artistic sisters over for a paint day to commemorate this occasion!
I can't wait to have a full day of painting with my girls. And I can't wait to see what beautiful work comes off our canvasses. I will post that later. But for now...here are some photos of Pollock and his work. Plus some interesting facts.
Enjoy!
In the 1940s artists around the world tried to deal with the impact of World War II. The Surrealist art movement, born in pre-war Europe, had great influence in postwar America largely due to the wartime migration of significant European artists. In New York, Surrealism continued to be a major influence on the free association method of working, called ‘automatism’. Through this method, artists sought to unlock images from the depths of their unconscious.
Many artists took an interest in Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and sought to explore symbols that had powerful shared meanings across different cultures and throughout history. This theory often provoked the desire to study tribal art and symbols as seen in the early work of Mark Rothko and his close friend Adolph Gottlieb.
The notion of a ‘return to origins’ of our deep humanity informed a renewed interest in the spontaneity of children’s art and what was then known as ‘the art of the insane’.
Philosophies such as existentialism, which stressed personal responsibility for creating meaning in one’s life, contributed to artists working with personal imagery. These ideas were incorporated in the work of artists such as Jackson Pollock. His distinctive style incorporated signature linear gestures and a layered surface made up of energetic drips and splatters.
Many artists took an interest in Carl Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and sought to explore symbols that had powerful shared meanings across different cultures and throughout history. This theory often provoked the desire to study tribal art and symbols as seen in the early work of Mark Rothko and his close friend Adolph Gottlieb.
The notion of a ‘return to origins’ of our deep humanity informed a renewed interest in the spontaneity of children’s art and what was then known as ‘the art of the insane’.
Philosophies such as existentialism, which stressed personal responsibility for creating meaning in one’s life, contributed to artists working with personal imagery. These ideas were incorporated in the work of artists such as Jackson Pollock. His distinctive style incorporated signature linear gestures and a layered surface made up of energetic drips and splatters.
Pollock's Materials and Techniques
Pollock did not produce preparatory drawings, colour sketches or other plans for his work. After long deliberation before the empty canvas, he used his entire body in the picture-making process, as he dripped, poured and splattered commercial paint – including Duco (automotive paint) acrylic and aluminium – across its surface with the aid of sticks, hardened brushes and garden trowels. In Pollock’s classic poured paintings, line no longer serves to describe shape or enclose form, but exists as an autonomous event, charting the movements of the artist’s body. As the line thins and thickens, it speeds and slows. Its appearance is modified by chance behaviour of the medium such as bleeding, pooling or blistering. In short, Pollock broke free from the conventions and tools of traditional easel painting.
Pollock did not produce preparatory drawings, colour sketches or other plans for his work. After long deliberation before the empty canvas, he used his entire body in the picture-making process, as he dripped, poured and splattered commercial paint – including Duco (automotive paint) acrylic and aluminium – across its surface with the aid of sticks, hardened brushes and garden trowels. In Pollock’s classic poured paintings, line no longer serves to describe shape or enclose form, but exists as an autonomous event, charting the movements of the artist’s body. As the line thins and thickens, it speeds and slows. Its appearance is modified by chance behaviour of the medium such as bleeding, pooling or blistering. In short, Pollock broke free from the conventions and tools of traditional easel painting.
Fun Story
Here is a fun and interesting story of a lady who bought a Jackson Pollock painting at a thrift store for $5. Then found out what she had bought!http://www.cincyworldcinema.org/z_70426jp.php
