Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock, born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912, was one of the most revolutionary artists of American culture.  He was mostly well known for his loose and obscured methods of painting abstracted art.  He started his paint throwing techniques at a workshop in New York City and soon moved to Springs Long Island, Ny where he perfected his creative and expressive style of painting.  Pollock started to use resin-based paints because they had a more liquid quality and were easier to throw on canvas.  His techniques of splattering, dripping, and pouring paint with different instruments including sticks and hardened brushes were crucial to how his paintings developed.  For example in Pollock's "Male and Female" right above he used a lot of his newly developed paint pouring and other techniques to create this extremely expressive and textured piece of work. His new style of "action painting" broke through the barriers of western art. It created a whole new way of viewing and critiquing paintings. People saw the movement and expression of the strokes and splatters placed upon the painting rather than trying to analyze the subject matter of it.  Pollock actually started to number his paintings and stopped giving his paintings names just for this reason. He wanted people to see the painting for the painting and not try to search for representations in his works. Pollock's style of painting included movement of his whole body and not just his hands. By working on the ground he could move easily around the canvas and have some control over where the paint ended up. He would virtually dance around his canvas and throw paint around while still knowing where and how he wanted the paint to fall. Jackson Pollock's abstract pieces are a staple in American art and influenced a whole new wave of painting.  His free and loose style has and will continue to inspire abstract painters for years to come.