ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST EXHIBIT AT THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO(AGO)

 Franz Kline  White Forms

Yesterday, on August 28th, I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario to visit the exhibition of Abstract Expressionists that is showing until September 4th. I wanted to make sure that I went to the AGO before the show was over. It was a rare opportunity to see some of the most important proponents of the Abstract Expressionist movement that was centered in New York city from the 1940's to the 1960's.

One of Franz Kline's  White Forms paintings is shown above. I spent a fair amount of time looking at this painting. This is not just a black and white painting. There is a lot of complexity in the colors and the forms. The white is not just white, there are subtle gradations and colorings or white and black. Overall, his paintings give me the impression of Chinese calligraphy, aggressive black lines on a white background.

Mark Rothko No. 5.

This painting by Mark Rothko is just one example of his work that is on exhibit at the AGO. I never really appreciated the work of Mark Rothko until I saw his paintings at the AGO. The power and emotion of his paintings come through, loud and clear. If I hear hot jazz in my head when I look at the paintings of Jackson Pollack then I hear Philip Glass in my head when I look at the paintings of Mark Rothko.

My Pacific Isamu Noguchi

The work above, My Pacific by Isamu Noguchi was the only piece in the show that was made of wood. It resonated with me as do all Noguchi pieces. He liked to use natural materials as he found them, a sentiment that I agree with. This sculpture was made from a piece of driftwood. It is one of the pieces that Noguchi made after he voluntarily spent time in a Japanese internment camp in Arizona during World War II setting up an an arts and crafts guild for the detainees. He made several of these sculptures after left the camp. I particularly like how he has  preserved the nature of the driftwood so that its origins are referenced in the finished piece.

I could not write a post about abstract expressionism without including a picture and comments about Jackson Pollack. I would not say that he was the main attraction of the exhibit although the room where his pictures were displayed seemed to be the room that had the most people. I went back and forth between several rooms to take several looks at many of the paintings. Every time I went through the Jackson Pollack room it was always full of people. The interesting thing about the people were their reactions to Pollack's work. Some people were simply bewildered. Some were unjustly dismissive and others would say, "I don't like it. I know what I like and I don't like this." To me, Jackson Pollack's work has an energetic vibrancy that resonates like hot jazz. I can hear the music as I stand in front of the painting soaking it all in.

I do not pretend to have any expertise regarding abstract expressionism but this exhibit certainly moved my appreciation for this art ahead several steps. abstract expressionism was an important period of our artistic culture. You cannot appreciate these pictures by looking at them online or in a book, you have to see them in person. If you have not had a chance to see these pictures then go and see them. You will not regret it!