JANUARY 24, 2011
"I believe easel painting to be a dying form, and the tendency of modern feeling is toward the wall picture or mural..." -Pollock
"I believe easel painting to be a dying form, and the tendency of modern feeling is toward the wall picture or mural..." -Pollock
to his most extensive painting, #9. The
picture is only 3 ft high, but it is 18
ft long and sells for $1,800 or $100 a
foot. Critics have wondered why Pollock
happened to stop this painting where he
he did. The answer: his studio is only
22 ft long." -LIFE 1949
So some of you may already know that I'm
a self-taught artist. A few years ago I
remember one of my friends, being in an
art history class at the time, matter-o-
factly telling me that I was an 'Outsider'.
Not knowing weather I should be stoked
about it or shrink back in despair, I
could only relate it to Johnny and Ponyboy...
two poor greaser rebels from one of my
favorite 80's movies. Ha! After finding
the true meaning, I was just fine with
that label. After all... I had no formal
training whatsoever.
In late 2002, while looking through a
modern art book, I came across a photo
of what looked like drip painting
(Lavender Mist). I had always been
fascinated with that style, yet had no
clue it was the work of old school
abstract expressionist, Jackson Pollock.
This would mark the beginning of a love
and passion to paint. I immediately went
to the library and checked out as many
books as I could on Pollock. I began to
buy some canvases, acrylic paint, as well
as latex household and aluminum paint. I
did my first painting in 2003, squirting
out the acrylic directly from the tubes.
That being said... Jackson Pollock's
work has been a tremendous influence on
me and in my work since the beginning.
I've always admired his absolute freedom
in his work and ability to create through
his feelings.
For my Birthday this last year, my family
bought me Life Magazine's August 8, 1949
issue featuring a 4 page spread on Pollock.
Definitely one of my best gifts ever.
Bottom Photo: "Number Seventeen was
painted a year ago (1948) in several
sessions of work which took place weeks
apart so Pollock could appraise what he
was doing and 'get acquainted with the
picture'. He numbers his paintings instead
of naming them so his public will not
look at them with any preconceived notion
of what they are." -LIFE 1949
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Jackson Pollock 51, 1951 (excerpt)
Hans Namuth and Paul Falkenberg (directors)Morton Feldman (composer)
"A method of painting is a natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement."
-JP
Paul Jackson Pollock
(January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist
movement.
