Jackson Pollock - the most influencial American Abstract Expressionist painter of his time

Jackson Pollock was an american painter and a representative of an abstract expressionism. He was born in 1912 and died in 1956 in a car accident.

He developed a specific manner in painting which was about dripping paint all over the canvas. In order to make such a painting, artist had to either set his canvases on the floor or lay them out against the wall. Instead of using brushes he would use knives or sticks. What's more. he also used to edit his works of art by choosing and cropping the most suitable parts of them and destroying the rest. The outcome was a reflection of artist's emotions and mood. The aim was to work directly from the unconsious, express an inner world, energy and motion. He claimed that despite his spontaneity while working, he was never loosing control over what he was doing. It became probably the most radical way to paint and this actually made him catch the attention of the mass media. He created a new definition of surface and touch, new relationships among space, pigment and drawing.

His works can be interprated in many different ways. They provide us with various feelings and thoughts. It is however very individual. Everyone looking at his paintings will have different impressions and associations.

He was very much influenced by Mexican muralist painter - Digo Rivera, as well as by some aspects of Surrealism which was about fantastic imagery and juxtapositions of the unpredictible. His idol however was Picasso.

In 1958, Whitechapel gallery presented a major retrospective of Jackson Pollock. Specific background prepared by modernist architect Trevor Dannatt was set up in order to create a powerful encounter with the paintings. Hidden lighting, suspended fabric and dark wall panels provided amazing experience to the viewer which maintaned for a long time in this place after architect's initial proposal.

Today, however, we can only see one of his pieces of art in this gallery, titled Summertime. It is a composition of nervous outlines and spots of pure colour in which critics see figures and gesture.

'Summertime: Number 9A', Jackson Pollock

I was that lucky to be also in Rome at the time when Museo Centrale del Risorgimento held an exhibition presenting one of the most valuable groups of works from the Whitney Museum in New York including Jackson's Pollock ones. One of the most famous 'Number 27', measuring over 3 meters with its iconic vivid colours and harmony of shapes really impresses the viewer.

'Number 27', Jackson Pollock

I could also admire there works of art made by his wife who turned out to be painter as well. Although she gave up painting at one period, as Pollock required her complete devotion, heads off here to her as but for her, there wouldn't have been The Pollock - Krasner Foundation founded in 1985, which is about supporting young, talented artists and which still exists nowadays.

Untitled, Lee Krasner

Abstract artists like Jackson Pollock were not only showing off their skill to the public. They were also helping bring culture back from the brink. They had an opportunity to redesign what would become the new world after World War II. Abstract art was able to influence design. It was the fulfillment of Abstraction's ultimate goal: the discovery of originality, a return to intuition and to the origins of subconscious influences. It marked on the world of architecture in the form of Deconstructivism which was about seeking original forms and buildings themselves often looked deconstructed, like fragmented into sections. One of good examples is Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao.

References

1. Staging Jackson Pollock. Whitechapel Gallery, London. (04.09.2018 - 24.03.2019)

2. Pollock e la Scuola di New York, Complesso del Vittoriano - ala Brasini, Rome (10.10.2018 - 05.05.2019)

3. Barcio P. (2016) IdeelArt, London, Available at: https://www.ideelart.com/magazine/the-influence-of-abstract-art-on-modern-and-contemporary-design-by-phillip-barcio