Shown is No. 8 1951, “Black Flowing,” by Jackson Pollock. Photo provided by DeeAnna Muraski.

By Darla McCammon
and DeeAnna Muraski
Guest Columnists

WARSAW — Our next artist in our Art in America series profoundly affects people. Either they absolutely love his style, or they hate it. Whether you are in the former or latter camp, the truth is that this artist impacted not only American art but also the art world.

Paul Jackson Pollock, known as Jackson Pollock, was born in Cody, Wyo., as the youngest of five boys; however, the family quickly moved. Pollock spent most of his formative years in Arizona and California. His time surrounded by Native American and Mexican-American communities and artists set the stage for his artistic influence.

Hopefully, from this Art in America series, it is evident that America was trying to create its own identity separate and distinct from the established European art mecca. Pollock firmly positioned our departure from the traditional staged portraiture painting of the sacred masters. In a society where we were encouraged to color inside the lines, Pollock blew that theory out of the water.

Pollock attended the Manual Arts High School then Art Students League and spent summers at Dartmouth College. His formal education was tumultuous, and he is credited with receiving a vast majority of his technique and schooling one-on-one through his mentor then wife, Lee Krasner. She was able to provide invaluable contacts and connections for him in the art community.

Another powerful influence for his art came from his agnostic beliefs, which led him to have a loose spirituality based on his early Navajo understandings and psychotherapy introduced by Carl Jung. The MBTI, or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, is loosely based on Jung’s theories. Essentially, this led Pollock to create art almost in a hypnotic state, throwing the subconscious onto the tangible canvas. A reporter scheduled to interview Pollock arrived in time to witness the master circling his canvas. His camera captured Pollock circling the canvas on the floor with exacting movements conducting the paint onto the canvas without thought to time or place.

As the world and America was experiencing World War II, Pollock’s canvases simultaneously shook the art scene with the intensity of a bomb. He threw off all pretense and led with an audacity that put it all on the line without care or concern to the aftershocks. Pollock’s bold departure from the traditional blazed a path that allowed those who followed to feel more comfortable expressing themselves in nontraditional ways. His “drip-painting” technique used home paint instead of artist paint, and the paint was adhered while the canvas was on the floor instead of a standing easel.

Unfortunately, alcoholism stifled Pollock and ended his life in an alcohol-induced accident in 1956, leaving him dead at only 44 years  of age. He left his mark with his innovative drip-painting technique and numbering most of his paintings instead of naming them. Posthumously, he also forced art sellers to have more accountability to authenticate artwork, as Pollock’s work was wildly duplicated.

Events

Lakeland Art Association: The association offers rotating workshops, exhibits and free art-related programs every month, and it has more than 70 pieces of local art to view, as well as local art that is for sale. The gallery is located at 302 E. Winona Ave., Warsaw. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Lakeland Art Association 19th annual Spring Juried Art Competition: Lakeland Art Association is accepting entries now for its annual juried art competition with prizes awarded. Entries will be accepted from 1-6 p.m. Sunday, April 28. Each artist can enter one to four pieces. A prospectus needs to be completed for each entry. For more information, you can send an email to [email protected] or call (574) 267-5568.

Warsaw City Hall: Retired art teacher and The Art Giraffe studio owner Brenda Ramseier is exhibiting her art now through June. The City Hall art gallery is located at 102 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw. It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except for holidays.

Darla McCammon is an artist, columnist and author. DeeAnna Muraski is executive director of Operation Read USA Inc. Send an email to the mother/daughter team at either [email protected] or [email protected].