Looking for Meaning at The Whitney
As opposed to my lightning speed “see by osmosis” method of moving through museum exhibits, I decided to slow myself down with a pen. Last Saturday at the Whitney I was suddenly possessed with the notion of filling my weblog with high art, critical thinking, and elegant composition. So I think I’ve got a handle on the first….
According to the Whitney’s press release, “Showcasing both Mitchell’s distinctive brand of Abstract Expressionism and her fierce dedication to her art, the fifty-nine paintings reflect her struggles and the artistic triumphs she achieved in an era when men dominated American vanguard art. “ The Whitney makes Joan Mitchell out as some kind of feminist painter heroine - a modern-day Joan of Arc promulgating the succession of the American Abstract Expressionists to the throne. Her paintings seemed hardly heroic and what innovations in style she promoted, she generally appropriated from Rothko, DeKooning, and Pollock (also known as stealing when the appropriated parts are greater than the synthetic whole). Nonetheless, I found her middle period (the 70’s) more enticing and generally more skilled and sophisticated.
The exhibit’s main entrance houses “Cross Section of a Bridge.” Brushstrokes are reminiscent of DeKooning’s Woman I, though the coloration is more along the lines of Kandinsky (not one of my faves). I did like the small shapes of washed color asymmetrically placed in the bottom right corner. The right hallway leads off into her early period, which is a miasma of brightly colored swathes with lots of white peeking through. I found these painting almost wholly without content, aesthetic or otherwise (and Pollock is my favorite painter). The smaller ones during this period are much nicer, in my opinion, than the larger pieces – she takes greater care apparently when working with less canvas.
Continuing to the right (now probably directly behind the entrance hall), we encounter later works from the late 1960’s and early 70’s. She appears to have matured in her style – her color combinations are more surprising, less primary, and she incorporates shaping elements with Rothko-like squares of color and more objective outlining of forms. She is also texturizing more, giving the paint more life and movement.
“Salut Sally” circa 1970 is still sticking somewhat with your basic blues, greens, yellows, and reds but she comes up with something different. She cushions large blocks of color with intermittent fields of short, layered brushwork. Paint drips over matte gray under these combinations as if to indicate a falling away of color, a diminution of paint and painterliness. “La Ligne de La Rupture” is even more exciting. She’s more overt in her Rothko incorporations here but interrupts the color blocks with lines of texturized paint in yellow and white – the grouping creates a sharp but somehow subtle contrast. “Blue Territory” (1971) brings in muted and earthly colors and focuses mostly on using differently-sized rectangles. “Clearing” (1973”) is a very nice grand-scale work with doughnut-like shapes in lavender balancing dark squares across a mostly white field.
I really liked three paintings and found that they mostly redeemed the exhibit for me: “Wet Orange,” “La Vie en Rose,” and “Salut Tom.” “Wet Orange” (the name says it all) is a mammoth triptych that sort of resembles that paved surface of an ancient European alleyway, but with orange, maroon, and periwinkle stones rather than slate. She achieves variation in a balanced way by mingling thinner rectangles with larger squares and changing the direction of rectangles in key places; she also obscures sharp lines and color differences with blurred patches of short brushwork.
Rothko’s work must have heavily influenced “La Vie en Rose” and “Salut Tom.” She differentiates herself perhaps by using her messy signature marks in certain sections of the quadriptychs (say that 10 times fast). Both works are similar but with completely different color schemes. “La Vie en Rose” feels sort of desolate, alone, but in a feminine manner. “Salut Tom” is more like summer with its yellows and sky blue.
The last few rooms contain her later works (from 1980 to 92) some of which visually attracted me and others that harkened back to her first period. Like other artists of her generation, she seemed to regress to an immature style or was attempting to recapture her youth, depending I suppose on your point of view. In works like “Sunflowers” (1990-1) and “Untitled” (1992) she really plays fast and loose with paint, and not, in my opinion, to her advantage. I did like a couple of paintings from this era, including “L’Arbre de Phyllis” which fills the canvas with short brush strokes that form a fountain of green and yellow. From the early 80’s, I liked “Begonia” and “La Grande Vallee XIII” both of which are like American abstractions of Monet’s late works (which would make sense given her move to Paris in the 70’s).
All in all, the exhibit was enjoyable enough with a few remarkable canvases. I wouldn’t have bought the monograph but the Whitney gave it to me anyway (for membership). The paintings look better in the book than they did on the wall.
Stay tuned for another installment covering the other exhibits at The Whitney….
According to the Whitney’s press release, “Showcasing both Mitchell’s distinctive brand of Abstract Expressionism and her fierce dedication to her art, the fifty-nine paintings reflect her struggles and the artistic triumphs she achieved in an era when men dominated American vanguard art. “ The Whitney makes Joan Mitchell out as some kind of feminist painter heroine - a modern-day Joan of Arc promulgating the succession of the American Abstract Expressionists to the throne. Her paintings seemed hardly heroic and what innovations in style she promoted, she generally appropriated from Rothko, DeKooning, and Pollock (also known as stealing when the appropriated parts are greater than the synthetic whole). Nonetheless, I found her middle period (the 70’s) more enticing and generally more skilled and sophisticated.
The exhibit’s main entrance houses “Cross Section of a Bridge.” Brushstrokes are reminiscent of DeKooning’s Woman I, though the coloration is more along the lines of Kandinsky (not one of my faves). I did like the small shapes of washed color asymmetrically placed in the bottom right corner. The right hallway leads off into her early period, which is a miasma of brightly colored swathes with lots of white peeking through. I found these painting almost wholly without content, aesthetic or otherwise (and Pollock is my favorite painter). The smaller ones during this period are much nicer, in my opinion, than the larger pieces – she takes greater care apparently when working with less canvas.
Continuing to the right (now probably directly behind the entrance hall), we encounter later works from the late 1960’s and early 70’s. She appears to have matured in her style – her color combinations are more surprising, less primary, and she incorporates shaping elements with Rothko-like squares of color and more objective outlining of forms. She is also texturizing more, giving the paint more life and movement.
“Salut Sally” circa 1970 is still sticking somewhat with your basic blues, greens, yellows, and reds but she comes up with something different. She cushions large blocks of color with intermittent fields of short, layered brushwork. Paint drips over matte gray under these combinations as if to indicate a falling away of color, a diminution of paint and painterliness. “La Ligne de La Rupture” is even more exciting. She’s more overt in her Rothko incorporations here but interrupts the color blocks with lines of texturized paint in yellow and white – the grouping creates a sharp but somehow subtle contrast. “Blue Territory” (1971) brings in muted and earthly colors and focuses mostly on using differently-sized rectangles. “Clearing” (1973”) is a very nice grand-scale work with doughnut-like shapes in lavender balancing dark squares across a mostly white field.
I really liked three paintings and found that they mostly redeemed the exhibit for me: “Wet Orange,” “La Vie en Rose,” and “Salut Tom.” “Wet Orange” (the name says it all) is a mammoth triptych that sort of resembles that paved surface of an ancient European alleyway, but with orange, maroon, and periwinkle stones rather than slate. She achieves variation in a balanced way by mingling thinner rectangles with larger squares and changing the direction of rectangles in key places; she also obscures sharp lines and color differences with blurred patches of short brushwork.
Rothko’s work must have heavily influenced “La Vie en Rose” and “Salut Tom.” She differentiates herself perhaps by using her messy signature marks in certain sections of the quadriptychs (say that 10 times fast). Both works are similar but with completely different color schemes. “La Vie en Rose” feels sort of desolate, alone, but in a feminine manner. “Salut Tom” is more like summer with its yellows and sky blue.
The last few rooms contain her later works (from 1980 to 92) some of which visually attracted me and others that harkened back to her first period. Like other artists of her generation, she seemed to regress to an immature style or was attempting to recapture her youth, depending I suppose on your point of view. In works like “Sunflowers” (1990-1) and “Untitled” (1992) she really plays fast and loose with paint, and not, in my opinion, to her advantage. I did like a couple of paintings from this era, including “L’Arbre de Phyllis” which fills the canvas with short brush strokes that form a fountain of green and yellow. From the early 80’s, I liked “Begonia” and “La Grande Vallee XIII” both of which are like American abstractions of Monet’s late works (which would make sense given her move to Paris in the 70’s).
All in all, the exhibit was enjoyable enough with a few remarkable canvases. I wouldn’t have bought the monograph but the Whitney gave it to me anyway (for membership). The paintings look better in the book than they did on the wall.
Stay tuned for another installment covering the other exhibits at The Whitney….
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