Who the f*** is Jackson Pollock? That’s a question I asked myself not too long ago. Last summer, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and ventured into the Modern Art section. I never cared much for art, and had no idea what “modern art” was. As I walked through the section, glancing at the artwork, I kept asking myself, “what is so special about this?” One of the works, was a full wall of separate canvases, each painted solid in a different color. It was basically a giant spectrum and I just didn’t get it. Some of the paintings were neat, however, I could make no sense out of any of them. I finally came to this one huge canvas that was splattered with paint. It had black, brown, and white splatters with hints of orange and yellow throughout. It caught my attention. I read the art tag. The painting was called Autumn Rhythm and it was painted by Jackson Pollock. Little did I know how big an impact Pollock would have on my life and schoolwork. In the fall of 2006, I took a course at Fordham University in the Mass Media and Communications Program (I’m still a student there, working on obtaining my Masters). The course was called “Theories of Communication.” One of the course’s main objectives was to define and understand “The Modern.” I was a little put off by it because after seeing Modern art and having little knowledge of Modernism, I didn’t know what to expect. But, to make a long story short, I learned that Modernism was a movement that began in the early 20th century that focused on a continuum of change. Those who took part in the Modern always wanted to push the envelope a little farther, break through new ground, continually change.
I thought about Pollock when we were learning about Modernism. I decided to make Pollock my final paper topic for that class. The assignment was to discuss modernity and its impact. After reading up on Pollock’s life, I learned that he was a manic-depressive who grew up in the West and then moved to Greenwich Village in New York to pursue a career in painting. He painted throughout the World Wars, making money as a starving artist. He married a fellow painted, Lee Krasner, and the two of them moved out of the city to the suburbs.
As an artist, Pollock experimented with many different forms--cubism, surrealism, and then he came to his home artistic movement: abstract expressionism. The Abstract Expressionists looked to create work that not only delved deep into their own psyches, but could reach into their viewers psyches. All of a sudden, Autumn Rhythm and all of the other splatter paintings Pollock created began to make sense. He painted them through his subconscious and when I looked at them, I could draw something out of them for myself. Modernism became much clearer to me and much more exciting.
In the midst of doing this project, I heard about a new film that was being made. It was a documentary called Who the F*** is Jackson Pollock. A woman by the name of Teri Horton, 74, bought a painting in a thrift shop for $5 many years ago. She intended on giving the painting, which looked like a piece of junk to her, to a friend. That never happened, so she put the painting out during a yard sale. A local art teacher came by and saw the painting and told Horton that it might be by Jackson Pollock and worth millions. Since then, Horton has been trying to prove her painting was by Pollock’s hand and become a millionaire.
I saw an interview with Horton last week on 60 Minutes. She is quite a character! She is a retired truck driver (and has the mouth to prove it). She is convinced that her painting is a Pollock after have it synthesized. Experts found a fingerprint on the painting that looks like a match to one of Pollock’s fingerprints. However, other art experts say the painting can’t be a Pollock. So, Horton is stuck.
One of Pollock’s latest found paintings was sold for $140 million. Horton thinks hers is worth $50 million and won’t give it up until she gets it. Pollock was known to throw his paintings away if he didn’t like them. They have turned up in garbage dumps around the country. Pollock’s fame took off in the late 1940s when he first created his “drip paintings” or what we call splatter paintings. He created them by laying the canvas on the floor and drizzling paint from various objects like brushes, sticks, etc. to create the drip effect. Pollock’s paintings did not become sought after until his death in 1956.
Pollock also happens to be the topic of my Masters thesis, which I will be writing this summer. My topic takes his Modern artwork and pits it against the postmodern networking website, MySpace. Please come back to my blog often, I will have more information on my thesis posted as it comes along and a poll for you to take in the new week or so! If you’d like to learn more about Pollock, I would rent the movie Pollock. The film was directed by Ed Harris. Harris also stars as Pollock. The film gives you a great idea of Pollock’s life and what contributed to his artwork. I highly recommend it!
The Modern Museum of Art dedicated an entire room to Pollock. He is certainly one of the 20th century’s most influential artists. There are a few links below if you want to see some of Pollock’s work and learn a little more about him. He is truly a great artists and a premier example of how Modernism continues to exist today, in a postmodern society.
The address to 60 Minutes and the story about Teri Horton:
Information about the film, Pollock
Wikipedia article on Jackson Pollock
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