[New-Poetry] Poetic Justice

[Judy Prince]

Indeed it would be a cool thing about JP's breakthroughs, if he'd done them
before his teacher Thomas Hart Benton and before the Way Muscular murals of
Orozco and Siqueiros [S who showed JP in that experimental workshop in 1936
the pour'y 'paints', liquid ceramic, as well as the throw, spatter, and drip
techniques] and if all of his buddies hadn't been doing AbEx.  A situation
of questionable eminence rather like Picasso whose rep's founded upon the
art he did in response to seeing African masks.
Pollock continually wondered if he were a Real Artist, or just a maker of
wallpaper patterns.  I rather love a few of those wallpaper patterns.

And I'm fascinated with the bold black calligraphic paintings of Franz
Kline, his reaction to Japanese brush writing-painting, which is a reaction
to Chinese brush writing-painting.  Kline's mother said about him and the
black paint [I'll have to paraphrase]:  "Just like Franz, always taking the
easy way."  One can only imagine what Rothko's mother would've said.

So far, dear Bob, I've found plenty of paintings which're stunning and/or
beautiful, and brilliantly skillfully done, but none which, to me, are
Breathtaking.

I'd love to find a fine artwork that brings the ecstasy and weeping of
Jessye Norman's singing 'Dove Sono' back in the 80s.

Some poetry, though, does Breathtaking----thank goodness!

Judy

2008/11/1 Bob Grumman <bobgrumman at nut-n-but.net>

> Judy Prince wrote:
>
>> I love Pollock's drip paintings, as do most folk who know his work.  Spent
>> a wonderful summer some 20 yrs ago reading all I could find about JP as well
>> as Franz Kline and Mark Rothko, all whose works appealed to me.  Two bits I
>> recall from a fascinating bio of JP re his drip paintings were, first, his
>> participating in and being encouraged to fling and spatter new kinds of
>> 'paints' by Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros', and, second, Pollock
>> as a kid with his father and brothers, pissing on [thereby creating designs
>> on] rocks somewhere in the Southwest [USA].
>> BTW, Bob, I know a little about visual art; I'm a published illustrator.
>>
>> Regarding my using Warhol and Pollock as examples of
>> less-than-Breathtaking artists, I'm applying my own theory that Breathtaking
>> art requires two elements:  fresh and meaningful contexts.
>>
> What would you call Pollock's?  To me, his first  of two breakthroughs was
> into freeing the brush from the brush&canvas fusion.  It seems a small
> thing, but it was major, like van Gogh's  loosening the brush&canvas fusion.
>  Result of both: greater visceral expressiveness.  Pollock's second
> breakthrough was to dance paintings, or express muscularity into painting.
>  Consequently, he was first to reach the ultimate primitive layer at the
> bottom of all art.  The context is the sequence of painting from
> representationality to impressionism to expressionism to so-called abstract
> art to abstract expressionism.  I don't see how you can deny his final step
> in this sequence the highest freshness and meaningfulness.
>
>> Naturally, we revert to your discussion earlier about HOW creative an
>> artist is.  Since all artists 'borrow' from other artists or non-artists, we
>> try to assess how they've 'gone beyond' the influences, how their work
>> differs from them.  That's one bit.  The other is less intellectual:  How
>> are those fresh 'takes' meaningfully contexted?  Regarding the two elements
>> of 'fresh' and 'meaningful', we'll have a continuum of opinions.  You find
>> JP on the Breathtaking end; I don't.
>>
> What painters do you put at the Breathtaking end?
>
>>
>> Enjoyable discussion, this.
>>
> I think so, too, thanks to you and Linda Sue.
>
> --Bob
>
>
>
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