Today is Pollock's birthday.  Art is funny. Just because something is easy doesn’t mean it can’t be great and just because something is hard doesn’t mean it is good. Pollock’s paintings are a mess, a simple mess, but the type of mess that would make you stop and think, uhu… wha?! That curiosity is why his paintings are worth millions.
The great part here is that his simple mess stops people to have a second look. Because people don’t stop for all simple messes. So, how does he do that? How did Pollock create something simple, messy, but makes you take a second look? It’s his use of color, the size of his canvas, and the pattern of the mess. YES! There is a pattern to the mess! And the pattern allows your brain to organize in a way that it now makes sense. It is mathematical. Not the exact sense of mathematical but it is approximate. It is really good estimation in the patterns in his paintings and it works. Maybe it was an accident that it worked.
Then you pair the accident with a fancy term, abstract expressionism, you'll have a whole new movement. Whatever works is great!
January 28, 2024