Abstract Expressionism, 1940’s – 1960’s
Abstract Expressionism started after the trauma of war. After the war period a lot of people including
artists such as Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Mare Chagall, Piet Mondrian and
Peggy Guggenheim migrated the United States and New York became the new capital
of art.
Jackson Pollock
in front of one of his artworks
A very important artist who made part
of the Abstract Expressionism movement, was Jackson Pollock. He was born and
raised in Cody but at the age of 18 he decided to move to New York with his brother.
Pollock used to drip and pour paint onto canvases with a stick to create roiling vortexes of color and line. He made a lot of these drip paintings and 32 of them were showcased as a solo exhibition at Betty Parson's New York Gallery in 1950. The most popular of these paintings were:
Number 1-
Lavender Mist (1950)
Number 1 - Lavender Mist, it is known that in this
painting, Pollock poured and applied paint with extreme physicality to reflect his
inner mind. This was the only painting that Pollock sold during his carrier.
Full Fathom Five
(1947)
Full Fathom Five was one of the first drip paintings that
Pollock completed. Under the black, silver and turquoise paint one can find a lot of waste and debris such as cigarettes, nails,
buttons, tacks, coins and a key.
Number 30 - Autumn
Rhythm (1950)
Autumn Rhythm – This painting includes multiple colours
but the most seen are black, white and a light olive green. Vogue magazine took
some shots at Pollock's exhibition and this painting was one of the major works
which appeared in the magazine.
Photographed by Cecil Beaton, Vogue, March 1951
A photograph by Dora Velican-Patrus, a Hungarian
photographer was part of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Malta 2017 exhibition
in Piazza San Gorg Valletta. In her work she likes to capture the emotions and
moods of the human body.
I went
to see this exhibition myself (photo - original source) and when I saw this photograph
I immediately remembered of Pollock's paintings. Supposedly Dora Velican-Patrus
was inspired by Pollock.
Photograph by
Dora Velican-Patrus
Artist Vanessa Carpenter was inspired by Pollock to
create her own painting. The painting is done on a canvas covered by different
paint colours such as black, white, blue, red and yellow.
Untitled 5
Jackson Pollock Inspired
In 2008 Dolce and Gabbana came out with a collection for
Spring/Summer inspired by Pollock’s paintings.
Dolce & Gabbana, Spring/Summer Collection, 2008
Videos:
https://youtu.be/Rl6lnnhno8c (part of the collection of Dolce & Gabbana, Spring/Summer Collection, 2008)
Reference list:
https://agnautacouture.com/2012/03/11/jackson-pollocks-paintings-inspired-fashion/
Minimalism,
1960’s
In the early 1960’s, New York saw the
beginning of Minimalism. Young artists were reacting to abstract expressionism
and started mixing and experimenting with different materials. In minimal art
everything is kept simple and with a minimum, and its based on simple geometric
shapes and structures. Famous artists of
the time were: Donald Judd, Robert Morris, Don Flavin and Carl Andre.
Portrait of Carl Andre
Carl Andre was a very important artist in the Minimalist art period. He is
actually still alive and still makes art to this day. He turned actual objects
into art, things that are found in shop and that are manufactured in factories
such as bricks.
These are some of his works:
Carl Andre - Lever, 1966
In Lever, Carl Andre, used real bricks for his exhibition. He likes that
the spectators interact with the art and therefore he allowed people to walk on
his art. This consisted of 137 firebricks lined one after the other into a
straight line.
Carl Andre - Equivalent VIII, 1966
This piece of art consists 120 firebricks and is another structure from the
same colllection as the one above. The name equivalent is because all eight
structures in the series have the same height, mass and volume, but different
shapes.
Carl Andre - Steel zinc plain, 1969
Steel zinc plain is made out of eighteen zinc plates and eighteen steel
plates. Each measuring twelve by twelve inches, the squares make up a larger
square in a checkerboard pattern.
In 2013, Loui Vuitton came out
with a collection for Spring/Summer that included a lot of squares just like
the structure that Carl Andre made. Therefore they could have been inspired by
him.
Video:
https://youtu.be/bN9hF26j1q8 - about
one of his works
Reference list:
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/andre-steel-zinc-plain-t07148
Conceptual Art, Mid
1960’s
Conceptual art was not considered as “art” because its artists produced
works and writings that completely rejected standard ideas of art therefore its
a movement that prizes ideas over the formal and visual components of art
works. The movement included all types pf art such as performances, happenings
and installations. Conceptual artists were influenced by the Minimalist
movement.
John Cage
Many artists had believed that if the
started a piece of artwork, the audience would complete it. In 1952, composer
John Cage, went on stage during a concert and for 4 minutes and 33 seconds he
stayed in front of a non playing orchestra while gesturing some slight
movements. The music playing was the silence and the noise that the people made
in those 4’33”. The idea behind this was that any sound can be musical.
Joseph Kosuth
One and Three Chairs, 1965
In 1965, artist Joseph Kosuth, made a piece of art called One and Three
Chairs. The artwork consists of a physical chair in the middle and on its left
there was a photograph of a chair and on the right there was a printed
definition of the word chair.
Children’s artwork inspired by Joseph Kosuth
3 House Club - London, a “school” for babies and toddlers made a project
for their children inspired by the artist Joseph Kosuth. They made children
chose objects and photograph them and then make a linguistic representation of
the object. In this case one can see a drum, a photo of the drum and a drawing
and the words “drum” and “bang Bang” on a sheet of paper.
Video:
https://youtu.be/gN2zcLBr_VM - showing john Cage’s 4’33” with a piano.
https://youtu.be/pcHnL7aS64Y - John Cage abou 4’33”
https://youtu.be/zGAOBPCVEYI - Art by Joseph Kusoth
https://youtu.be/1hpfkIPTRBo - Joseph Kusoth’s words
Reference list:
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