Yellow Gesture18" x 11"
Original Pastel
Casey Klahn
CTA
Original Pastel
Casey Klahn
CTA
The popularity of the Abstract Expressionist movement continues today. Although the conventional wisdom wishes to move on, the movement has legs beyond it's supposed demise.
In the light of this, I wish to ask a couple of questions. Why would an artist today wish to identify their work as Abstract Expressionist, when it is considered defunct? Is it actually experiencing a rebirth, then? Do contemporary artists "give a care," as the vernacular has it, whether a movement is alive or dead in order to be associated with it?
Are these contemporaries the ultimate nerds of the art world? Or, are they just blithely ignorant of conventional wisdom, and happy to make art as they please?
My own references to the Abstract Expressionists have been many:
- Helen Frankenthaler (sorry, but I associate you with this school broadly)
- Clyfford Still
- Cy Twombly
- Jackson Pollock
- Mark Rothko
- Wolf Kahn ("second generation")
- Lee Krasner
On a related fresh note, the Smithsonian is loving the Color Field movement right now (through may 26th):
Speaking of color field work, Peter Plagens, at Newsweek, wonders what ever happened to color in contemporary art? Oh please, Palgens! Click on Google and find me, for heaven's sake! If you'd do a little research, you'd see that it is alive and kicking in the New School Color theme.
- A Room with a Hue (MoMA)
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5 comments:
Hi Casey - some interesting links :)
do you know the work of Frank Bowling? I think you'd like it
http://www.frankbowling.com/index.html
Yes, I do like his luminous acrylics. Powerful, and very well done. Thanks, Vivien!
Paul Brach comes to mind. Wonder if he`s still alive and working? I was quite taken by some of the work he did in the 50`s.
Hi Casey, great blog and finally someone's paintings I can relate to. Thanks for the mention of my blog pollocksthebollocks
I looked him up, John. Looks like he's kickin' and did he emerge in the sixties? I'll look some more. I am impressed with the references coming at me in my comments to artists I wouldn't otherwise have found. An education right here.
Hi, James. I'm glad you see the connection in my work. Heavy AE roots, IMHO. Sorry it took this long to link you, but I explore art compendium type blogs much slower. I'll be adding Tyler Greens' and have added the Art News Blog recently.
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