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_Jackson Pollock _
By: Jason Lisovicz
SILKSCREEN 19 / 25 Jackson Pollock 1951 Silkscreen Printing 6 Pieces @ 24”x
26” Brooks Museum By: Jason Lisovicz SILKSCREEN 19 / 25 Jackson Pollock 1951
Silkscreen Printing 6 Pieces @ 24”x 26” Brooks Museum By: Jason Lisovicz
SILKSCREEN 19 / 25 Jackson Pollock 1951 Silkscreen Printing 6 Pieces @ 24”x
26” Brooks Museum By: Jason Lisovicz Lisovicz, Jason 1 II. Style In this
particular work we find what made Jackson Pollock famous and that is CHOAS.
This work is an example of representational abstract art. Moving from the
first through the sixth screenprint we find different features of humans in
the art. Not only man but also woman and both together. These works say a lot
about the frame of mind that Pollock had during this time period. It seems
that everything about the series is chaotic, but still has a central message
to it. The message is one of humanity. Beginning with the first piece in the
series you find almost a crazed war scene with parts of human bodies in all
different places. Moving to the second work it seems to be a man dancing
around a fire somewhat showing the barbaric side of man. In the third frame it
looks to be a picture of a barroom with people sitting and drinking. The
fourth one, which is the most distinctive one, shows a man and woman engaged
in intercourse. Coming to the fifth in the series, we find another hugely
chaotic scene in which the figures seem to be fighting. Finally, the sixth is
thrust upon us and the main identifiable form in the work is a human face
found in the lower right corner with something on top of his head. This one
represents all of the works together by ending the series with what is
constant in life and that seems to be humanity or the picture of. The artist
and the works both come from a number of different styles ranging from
cultural to period to personal. Pollock began his work with abstract
expressionism during the end of World War II around the 1940’s. At this time
Lisovicz 2 Pollock was experiencing social and personal unrest about the war
and life itself. There had to be another way to express himself as an artist.
This began an uprising of artist, working with the emotions and not the order
that they had been taught. Or did their work have order? Yes, it did, these
works exhibited a new order that had never been heard or seen before. This was
the order of human feelings and what they look like when brought out and put
on a medium. There had finally come a time when the world was open to the
built up emotions of humanity and Pollock along with his colleagues were going
to show the world what this looked like. III. Function Jackson Pollock
throughout his life always strayed from the norm with his works. This piece is
no different. It has all that he ever believed wrapped into one. His belief
that everything does not have to be the same to be good and that if you can
express what you feel then that is true art. With this said, Jackson moves
through two of the functions of art in this series. These are Art for Social
Purpose and Art for Self-Expression. First, Art for Social Purpose. Pollock
shows in his representation of humans and their actions in his work, that all
parts of life are somewhat crazy and the emotions of these situations cannot
be harnessed. The only way he felt he could show this was by his abstract
movements with his brush or pin. To draw small straight lines would be to take
that emotion he longed to Lisovicz 3 express and bottle it up. In most of his
works we find his “out of the box” lines and shapes. He wanted to add more
emotion to humans and move away from the little or lack of emotion that had
been shown by the artist that came before him. It was time for a social change
in the world. America was coming out of an age of exactness and dullness,
Pollock then saw his chance to truly express himself. Pollock didn’t believe
that his pieces would change the world of art, but they did! For the first
time we found artist moving away from the order that had been placed in art
and heading towards the boundaries of real human feelings. Next, Art for
Personal Expression. Pollock was the first art figure to break away from the
order that artist like Mondrian had placed in the art society. His works were
a true expression of the way he felt about what was going on in the world
around him. He seemed to find solace while painting. It was the only time he
was controlled. His uncontrollable side came out in his works. This is what
made him one of the great artists of the twentieth century. Pollock’s ability
to harness emotion and not be afraid to show it set him apart from the crowd
and gave way for the “new” artists to step up and show their abilities. IV.
Technique This particular series of works by Pollock is part of a large group
of silk-screens. This technique is relatively new but is a refinement of the
ancient and Lisovicz 4 simple technique of stencil printing. (Artforms: p.154)
With this technique an artist can reproduce a piece so that all may have the
same quality as the first one. By strapping the stencil to a screen made of
silk fabric stretched across a frame and moving a rubber-edged tool, called a
squeegee, across it while ink is applied, it allows the image to be
transferred from the stencil to the screen. (Artforms: p.154) V. Subject In
this series Pollock is working with humanity as his subject and the primitive
and real side of society. He moves from chaos to love then back to chaos.
These are the emotions that are shown in numerous works by Pollock. He seemed
very interested in the primitive human emotion and the situations they are
displayed in. Pollock’s work was about the true feelings inside and how to get
them out. VI. Form Lines: In this work the lines are everything. They are
bold, thick and curved in some places and small, thin and straight in others.
He uses them for the outlines of humans in #2 and in #6. Then in the others,
the lines fade into the background as to become part of the content or picture
of that particular piece. The directional force of the lines is not totally
apparent in all, though in #4 the eyes are quickly drawn to the man and woman
engaged in intercourse. The lines in this series affect the expressive content
of the piece by representing emotion in their turmoil. The Lisovicz 5 artist
was feeling somewhat crazy about his surroundings in the world and tried to
express them with the use of lines. Shape: As oppose to Mondrian’s studies of
color, Pollock's works are totally organic in figure. All of the lines and
objects or shapes in these works are made in a rhythmic way sort of a dance,
if you will. Once again, we find that Pollock has given us a picture of human
emotion. Mass: The artist does not use the picture plane as a 3-D plane.
Instead he uses it a flat plat. These pieces are meant to jump at you for
their content and emotion and not for their ability to look deep. Space: The
space is a very significant part of this series. Just that the works are
broken up into a series proves Pollock's use of space. The artist wants the
viewer to move through the work picking up the pieces and then taking them all
in as you move along to the next one. This work consists of a group of
thoughts and not just one idea. Color: The color scheme in the series is quite
simple, but the idea behind it seems complex. The usage of only black and
white signifies the primitive emotions of man. In a true feeling, you have no
colors or other things disturbing the emotion. The only thing present in true
feelings is the desire to get exactly what you want. This is the message the
Pollock is relaying. Lisovicz 6 Texture: In this technique the art does not
have any texture. These are perfect reproductions of the original. These are
magnificently done so that the only things printed on the screen are the exact
etchings or impressions of the stencil. VII. Content The main focus of these
works that Pollock was trying to get across is that all human emotion is crazy
and that the world around us is filled with very alive wild things. Once
again, this series moves from chaos to love then back to chaos. VIII.
Additional Works 1) Church Interior 4) Francesico Botticini Francois de
Nome (Monsu Desidoro) Madonna and Child 1620 1475 Oil on
Canvas tempera on wood 11”x 13” 25”x 20” 2) The Cat
Man 5) Lumiere De Minuit David Bates Yaacov Agam 1986 1973
Oil on Canvas oil on metal 7’x 5’ 3’x 4’ 3) West Doorway of St.
Mark’s Louis Rosenberg 1927 Etching 10”x 5”
_Bibliography _
Discussion of a representational work by Jackson Pollock during his abstract
non-repersentational working years.
Word Count: 1561
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