Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Action Abstraction


I visited the St. Louis Art Museum over the holidays. It was the last few days of their exhibit Action Absraction dealing with the abstract expressionists, like Pollock, de Kooning and my personal favorite, Jasper Johns.


I can't say that I am a huge fan of Jackson Pollock, but I will say that it was quite the experience to stand in front of one. I had no idea his canvases were so huge. My sister, Leanne and I also enjoyed the last bit of the exhibit - which encouraged the viewers themselves to help create the art by writing poems and statements on chalkboards. As always, the visiting the museum was enjoyable and educational. I'm going to participate in one of their "Study days" in March, which is a free all day art history class focusing on the Court Arts of the Ming Dynasty, which will be their next touring exhibition.

5 comments:

TBM said...

Oh! I would love to have seen this exhibit!! Have you watched the movie "Pollock"? Here's a lazy link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183659/

What a trying man he was! But his drips have lots of energy ;-)

I LOVE Jasper Johns. And de Kooning. Was there any Rauchenberg?

lucylucia said...

I haven't seen the movie, but I have the soundtrack and I listen to it at work all the time!
I was a little overwhelmed to see his paintings in real life. And you are exactly right, they were so full of energy they practically moved!

I am totally affected by the use of color in a painting and Jasper Johns just rocks it out. Every time I see something of his I fall in love!

I don't remember seeing any Robert Rauchenberg paintings. But there were some lovely Rothkos!

TBM said...

I googled Johns the other day and was stunned to see that he is still alive. I wonder if he is still working? His encaustic paintings wow me every time. Have you seen the ones at the Menil museum in Houston? Swoon!!

lucylucia said...

I had no ide he was alive either!! I've never been to the Houston museum, but I'm sure it's amazing. I've been to the Dallas museums and loved them.

Anonymous said...

Aw, wish I could have seen that.