Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Shows Jackson Pollack

Wednesday, 19 July 2006 09:43

Kalamazoo, MI - The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts will exhibit a painting by Jackson Pollock that illustrates the artist’s return to figurative elements in the 1950s.  Vertical Composition (c. 1953-55) is on display at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts through September 1.

Intimate in scale but powerful with its energetic swirls and globs of thick paint, Vertical Composition reveals Pollock’s return to a more controlled application of paint.  The artist had gained fame in the late 1940s with his large paintings created with a “pour technique.”  Pollock placed large canvases on the floor, moving around them like a dancer; pouring and dripping paint but never allowing the brush to touch the surface.

Vertical Composition was painted more traditionally, with a brush and easel, but the viewer can still visualize Pollock moving around the canvas, using large, strong movements and gestures to apply layers of red, brown, white, green and blue paint.  Triangular areas of red and white emphasize the verticality of the painting and emerging from the thick surface is a hint of the human form, albeit extremely simplified.

Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) was a major force in the Abstract Expressionist movement and has influenced numerous artists and artistic movements.  He was born in Cody, Wyoming but grew up in Arizona and California.  He trained with American Regionalist Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League in New York City and, like Benton, his early work emphasized the human form.

While undergoing treatment for depression, Pollock’s paintings became increasingly abstract and symbolic.  In 1947, he found his mature style and took the art world by storm.  Influenced by Native American sand painting and the theory of Surrealist Automatism (the direct expression of the unconscious mind), Pollock’s drip/pour technique was the origin of the term “Action Painting.” S truggling with a life-long alcohol addiction and depression, his life and career were cut short in an alcohol-related car crash on August 11, 1956.  Jackson Pollock was 44 years old.

The painting comes to the KIA courtesy of Jon Boos, curator of the Masco Corporation.  “We are fortunate to benefit from the goodwill of collectors and art enthusiasts who support the arts in a variety of ways, one of which is to offer the community access to works by important artists generally seen only in larger cities,” said Susan VanArendonk, director of collections and exhibitions for the KIA. 

Part of the community since 1924, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts provides visual arts experiences to people throughout West Michigan.  Each year, thousands of visitors enjoy the KIA’s temporary exhibitions, receptions and special events, educational programs, Art School classes and fine arts library.

Visit : www.kiarts.org