She was certainly a female force to be reckoned with, Lee Krasner! Artist, pioneer, feminist…and wife of world-renowned artist Jackson Pollock. However, she made her stands quite clear in a famous quote, when she said: ‘I painted before Pollock, I painted during Pollock and I painted after Pollock’ – no arguing there then. She came across as thick-skinned, brusque and abrupt, but that armour she had to put on to survive and fight her way in the art world, which in the 40s, 50s and 60s, was quite clearly a man’s world. Picture this: you create stunning, visual artworks, only to be told by a galleries, that if it had been painted by a man, it would definitely sell.’ Painted by a woman? Unthinkable…in today’s world, precisely this scenario would be unthinkable, but Lee had to fight for her laurels, which also made her the driven artist and completely unique and strong-willed woman she became. Her life journey was not an easy one, she knows she upset many people on the way, but she was determined nevertheless.

Expressing herself in these different styles throughout the various phases of her life, she permanently seemed to reinvent herself, making it impossible to pin her down on one genre only. That was exactly what she wanted: to be known for her all her ability as an artist, lasting over decades, not just known for a single style that could define her, as there where so many different facets to her. To be known ‘only’ for her vivid canvases in American Abstract Expressionism does her a great deal of injustice, as she was also highly accomplished in life drawing and painting self-portraits. Claudia Peifer liked those in particular, as they were already showing Lee’s serious streak as a girl and young woman. However, this was not enough for her – she needed to explore art and herself fully to stay fresh and unconventional – impressive!

Our exclusive interview with art historian and the Schirn’s director, Dr. Philipp Demandt, was hugely interesting and funny too. Discussing her plight in life for making her own name, and advising on the fact, that there isn’t much American Abstract Expressionism to be found in Europe, bar Anglo-Saxon countries, we realised then what a gem this show really is. Curated and organised by the Barbican Centre in London, in collaboration with Frankfurt’s Schirn Kunsthalle, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spain), as well as the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern (Switzerland), this blockbuster retrospective about one of the most important artists of the 20th century is a real treat!

Lee Krasner – The Artist

Hailed as a pioneer in Abstract Expressionism, this all-encompassing exhibition, showing almost 100 works, definitely cements Lee Krasner as one of the most important artists of the 20th century.

Celebrating her life & work, we get an idea about a very complex mind and possibly an even more complex woman. Eclipsed by the name of her world-famous husband for decades, she never seemed intimidated by his name, even when she became Mrs. Jackson Pollock.

In the struggle to stay true to herself and her own work, Lee Krasner had to be driven, single-minded, super focused and undeterrable. To be all this in the 40s, as a woman, in an art world that was controlled and directed mainly by men, was not an easy task. This retrospective shows the entire works of Lee Krasner…and that she was a survivor, as a person, as well as in her art.

As a member of the American Abstract Artists group, her contemporaries were Ray Eames, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and of course, Jackson Pollock, as well as Mark Rothko. Defining her adult life in different work phases, she kept on experimenting, and decided to move in Pollock’s studio after his death in 1956, where yet another new phase of her career as an artist began.

She had come very far from life-drawing nudes, to self-portraits in oil to creating works in her geometrical ‘Little Images’ series, now embarking on large canvasses and subsequently her famous collages. Stepping out of Pollock’s shadow, she became this trailblazer of a female force in American Abstract Expressionism in the following years, hence her pioneering input for women in art must never be underestimated.

American Abstract Expressionism

Developed in New York in the 40s, American Abstract Expressionism is a post-World War II art movement not just in painting, but collages and sketches as well. Specifically, it was the first American art movement as such to gain international recognition and influence, putting New York on the map as the new centre of the western art world, taking over from Paris.

Abstract Expressionism intends to ‘make art’ that is expressive or emotional in its effect. Originally inspired by surrealism, in as much as that art should derive from the unconscious mind, Amercian Abstract Expressionism represented freedom of expression at a time when many other countries were under some sort of political dictatorship. Whereas the United States of America allowed its artists to work freely and in an uninhibited way, artists in many other western countries were still ‘gagged’ by political censorship.

Although the actual term ‘abstract expressionism’ was first applied to American art in 1946 by the art critic Robert Coates, it apparently was coined in Germany in 1919 by the magazine ‘Der Sturm’, with regards toe German Expressionism. However, Alfred Barr was the first to actually use this kind of terminology in the US in 1929, talking about Wassily Kandinski. German Expressionism has its roots in emotional intensity and self-denial – Futurism, Bauhaus and Cubism came to life.

And although it is true, that the impression of spontaneity and ‘feeling things’ at the spur of the moment characterised many of the works in Abstract Expressionism, most of these works required careful planning, also considering the large size format they were created in. Artists such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinski, and later on in the post-World War II movement, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Barnett Newman and Franz Kline, amongst many others, all seemingly applied abstract art as an expression of the mind, the spiritual and the unconscious.

There Are Two Kinds Of Abstract Expressionism

Fascinating fact: did you know, there are two groupings, in which Abstract Expressionism can be broken down to: the Colour-Field Painters and the Action Painters

Colour Field Painting – the focus is on colour and contrast, applying a more passive painting style, whilst exploring fields of colour and the reflection on mood. Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko could both be categorised as Colour Field painters, wanting to capture the attention and the emotion of the viewer by application of coloured fields and spaces.

Action Painters – this style name says exactly what it does ‘on the tin’: vivid and lively streaks of colour with often overlapping lines create sensation and emotion in an active, gestural style. Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Lee Krasner and Willem de Kooning are known for practicing this particular style, often in large size formats, using layers of paint and rigid contrasting edges to evoke emotion in the viewer.

The American contemporary artist Richard Jackson knows how to push things to the limit – with the help of colourful paint being pumped through his installations, funnels, tubes, mouths ears and all sorts of other body parts, for his exhibition UNEXPECTED-UNACCEPTED-UNEXPLAINED at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt/Germany. Air compressors are at hand to do the ‘messy’ deed, whilst social issues and critical commentary is addressed in separately themed rooms with rather provocative wit. Comprising of 12 separately themed rooms altogether, the Dining room is particularly ‘in your face’, which, upon looking closer, shows scenarios every visitor can probably relate to or has experienced at least at some stage of their lives. The Delivery Room, as well as The War Room, mirror their own respective and problematic circumstances, with more paint being pumped through what could be described as comic Disney characters. Humour is of the essence when visiting this exhibition at the Schirn, which , for the first time, has actually assembled 5 of the 12 thematic rooms for this show. Now extended until the 5 July, go and see this exhibition if you can, as you’ll never see anything like it again.

Richard Jackson’s Latest Showing at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt

Originally born in Sacramento in 1939, Richard Jackson has since become an iconic name in
the world of art and painting. Jackson is not just any old artist due to focusing his skills on
the radical expansion of painting – he expands the activities of painting and instead of using
generic instruments to create his art, he favours the use of vehicles, machines and everyday
objects. This has given him the reputation of a Neo–Dadaist!

Jackson has innovatively made the radical expansion of painting his primary focus, much
more so than any other artist of his time! The infamous artist uses the formal picturesque
boundaries and pushes them as far as he possibly can! This allows him to create bizarre
situations which connect the usage of his paint and the actual use of the machines to its
processual aspect.

Now notorious for his use of the grotesque, Jackson’s rooms have developed a reputation of
being absolutely hilarious – but they also serve as a provocative critique of both society and
art! When you delve into the inside of Jackson’s rooms, it isn’t quite like anything you have
seen before! Animals, comic figures and objects are used to create the central protagonists
in the rooms. This is helped via the use of pumps and air compressors as they allow an array
of rich, vibrant colours to flow through tubes that travel through a plethora of things:
mouths, ears, furnishings, walls and even the characters themselves! It really is such a
unique, creative use of paint to tell a wacky story!

And now you can see Jackson’s brilliant talent come to life in the flesh with the new
exhibition at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt! The exhibition will display many of his
world-renowned Rooms. Some of these quirky yet fascinating rooms include:

• The Bed Room (2002)
• The Delivery Room (2006-07)
• The Dining Room (2006-07)
• The Maid’s Room (2006-07)
• The War Room (2006-07)

Throughout all of these rooms, one element is ever-present – they combine a critical
commentary of painting alongside their social contexts. So, if you’re like us and you not only
like looking at art but also examining it and delving further into what it could be reflecting
from society, you are in for a treat with this exhibition!

Richard Jackson’s ‘Unexpected Unexplained Unaccepted ‘exhibition at the Schirn Kunsthalle
Frankfurt has been extended until the 5th of July 2020.

For more information regarding all things art, including further European-wide exhibitions
and art fairs, visit TA-DAH.TV today!

Tour dates:

• 09 July: Exeter, Powderham Castle, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 13 July: Leeds, Harewood House, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 15 July: Norwich, Blickling Estate, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 16/17 July: Bath, Royal Crescent, Michael Bublé – Live at The Royal Crescent
• 19 July: Brighton/Hove, The 1st central County Ground, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 20 July: Derby, Incora County Ground, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 22 July: Cardiff, Cardiff Castle, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 23 July: Warwick, Warwick Castle, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 25 July: Hatfield/London, Hatfield House, An Evening with Michael Bublé
• 27 July: Durham, Emirates Riverside, An Evening with Michael Bublé

For more information visit:

www.michaelbuble.com