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Inspired by surrealist techniques, ABEX brought the spontaneous controlled chaos of action painting and meditative washes in color field painting to create emotionally expressive works defined by experiments with texture, color, shape form. The anxious self-censoring necessary amid McCarthyism constant violent civil rights violations define this era C. Greenburg declared the distinction between the artistic truth inherent to ABEX, and the banal kitsch common in American Regionalism.
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Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)
Jackson Pollock
Enamel on canvas
8 ft. 9 in. × 17 ft. 3 in.
The MET Pollock's iconic action paintings aligned with the artistic ideology connected to Carl Jung's philosophy of the subconscious was the true primordial self. In a controlled chaos technique, inspired in part by Mexican modern artist David Siqueiros, these thick lines of enamel were layered upon a canvas laid on the floor, removed literally and figuratively from the traditional methods of painting. -
As its name implies, the Neo-Dada movement takes cues from its European counterpart just some forty years earlier. Functioning to blue the boundaries between life and art, Neo-Dada works interogated the role of the every day object in our lives, juxtaposing expectations by elevating them to the status of art. Humor and irony replace the heroism and transcendence of AbEx. Interactive events called "Happenings" were hosted, encouraging audience participation and a destruction of norms.
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Artist’s Shit
Piero Manzoni
Tin can, printed paper and excrement
18.9” x 25”
Tate Modern, London
Perhaps the most succinct critique of the cult of the artist-as-celebrity, Manzoni's can of shit is an organic ready-made; completely inverting expectations of the object-value to formal art. As Dada, this work challenges the level of trust between viewer and artist- are we to believe Manzoni meticulously measured his creations, or is the Schrödinger's cat mystery the true value of the work? -
Claes Oldenburg
Store
mixed media
Storefront / The Green Gallery
This work perfectly bridges the absurd Neo-Dada observations of post WWII consumerism to the classic Pop Art utilization of popular consumer images. In the satirical soft sculptural and paper machete expanse of the Store, the works are truly for sale like any other shop object. But this sale feels different than the formalities of gallery sales. The interactivity of this art repositions the traditional viewer into consumer. -
Gaea
Lee Krasner
Oil on canvas
5' 9'' " x 10' 5 1/2"
MOMA
In this gigantic work artist Lee Krasner uses a fragmented and dynamic composition to capture a beautiful abstract work. The contrast of pink, maroon, cream, and a near black purple brings out the texture of the brush stroke. Krasner's study of art theory lent itself to her practice, as her work is rich with referential use of color (Fauvist Matisse) and shape (Picasso). Krasner explored themes of grief and nature in her works. -
Ed Kienholz
The State Hospital
Assorted Materials
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
This disturbing installation takes a more intentional stance than typical dada. Kienholz used assorted found materials, including medical, building this bunk bed occupied by two "patients", their bodies leaking red ribbons of blood, on soiled mattresses; An enhanced display of inhumane conditions. Ala Duchamp's Étant donnés, viewers of this work would have to gaze through the bars of the door to see what was inside. -
Untitled (Black on Gray)
Mark Rothko
Acrylic on canvas
80 1/8 x 69 1/8 inches
Guggenheim Museum, New York
This work, though somewhat outside of formal movement timeline, is a representational for of Rothko's iconic color field paintings. The color washes typically offer room for a viewer's meditative contemplation. Whether it is the void like black over a gray surface mirroring the isolation of the moon, or the knowledge of this being at the end of Rothko's life; this work radiates intensity.