Movement



Jackson Pollock, August 8, 1949 Life Magazine

John 1:35-42

 

 

The August 8, 1949 issue of Life Magazine featured a story that would introduce Middle America to a rising Art phenom. Yet in his pop-culture debut, Jackson Pollock is shortchanged by the cynical intentions of the magazine editors. The writers of Life Magazine were not parading Jackson Pollock around as a savant but just a plain idiot. They were giving the Average Joe American a chance to laugh at the seeming foolishness of East Coast elite. The Art World was aloof and obscure and this article would set that truth in print. When the caption asked “Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?”, it did so to be provocative and rhetorical. It is set under the enormous, wall length, Action Paintings of Pollock that would be read as “chicken scratch” by the uninitiated average American. The intention is to get a resounding “No!’ from the reading audience. And why not? This was no Norman Rockwell that every flag waving, apple pie baking, baseball playing, red-blooded American could embrace. This new form of Abstraction was for more contemporary European tastes. And the rest of the article follows with this undertone. Yet that is exactly where it starts to get the story wrong and shortchange its readers. Jackson Pollock was doing something that was now decidedly American. His so called Action Painting was not only centered on movement but was also the byproduct of a Movement. He was in fact not a solitary madman but rather a member of a movement that was turning the world upside down. Jackson Pollock was an Abstract Expressionist and a member of the generation known as the New York School. These young radicals were moving the center of the Art World from Paris to New York… where it still resides. These aesthetic revolutionaries were known to gather in the Cedar Tavern bar in Greenwich Village, New York City where they celebrated the new future of Art history over drinks. A lot can be accomplished when a group of students set out change the world with revolutionary ideas. When men and women become moved by a substantive Movement, they themselves can be transformed to be movers and shakers. The book of Acts records a similar occurrence. People throughout the Roman Empire from Hebrew speakers of Palestine to the Greek speakers of Asia Minor all wondered about the students of a movement that had “turned the world upside down.” Wherever they travelled, these disciples were known to gather together and celebrate the new Kingdom of God through bread and wine. They were diverse students from differing backgrounds like Paul, Barnabas, Silas, John and Peter. None was a solitary religious guru but rather all were members of one school. What they shared in common was a movement: Christianity. When each sought to express themselves through writing (Gospel or Epistle) or speech, it was an effort to explain the story of the origins of their movement. When anyone asked why they were turning the world upside down, the answer was the same: Jesus.   

 

The Gate, Hans Hofmann

Push/Pull

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 

The story of New York’s rise as the capital of the Art World and America’s coup d'état in the Abstract Art World does not even begin with Americans. It begins with Europeans. First it begins with the old guard of Modern Art, ex patriots that settled in the United States due to the wartime turmoil in Europe. Figures like Picasso the Cubist and Dali the Dadaist could now be seen making the rounds amongst the New World’s intelligentsia, bourgeoisie and cultural elite. The young art students of New York took note. These were not the only European Modern artists to take up residency stateside. There were also others, like Hans Hofmann, who were less successful but apt to teach. Hoffman was a German who had learned and practiced the principles of Cubism. Hofmann is known for his own paintings but his greater impact on history was his teaching of the future Abstract Expressionists. Hofmann’s signature idea was that of the push/pull, described as so:

Blue on Grey, Hans Hofmann

“Hofmann believed fervently that a modern artist must remain faithful to the flatness of the canvas support. To suggest depth and movement in the picture - to create what he called "push and pull" in the image - artists should create contrasts of color, form, and texture.”

The painters of this generation were a mixed lot stylistically. There were Action Painters like Pollock, overly expressive painterly types like DeKooning but also Color Field painters like Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler. The element that unifies the whole movement was the commitment to expression that did not fight against the flat surface. It was paint that was to be appreciated as paint and not an illusionistic medium of representation. The thing that unified Abstract Expressionists was found in the ideas of Hans Hofmann. It can be said that The New York School was the mind of Hans Hofmann. We can also make a similar argument of two rabbinic schools in first century Palestine. Whether they were disciples of John the Baptist or of Jesus Christ, the thing that unified both diverse camps was their subject. Both schools were directed to focus on the person of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist revealed that the Messiah and object of his preaching was Jesus. John had his own Hans Hoffman approach to his teaching… his own push/pull. He saw himself as a precursor to the Messiah: to push them towards repentance and preparation for the Messianic Age. When Christ appeared, he pulled those disciples to himself. It is critical that we understand this fact: the objective of Jesus’ ministry was to get his disciples to follow him because he was the actual content of his teaching and sermons. Everything that Jesus alluded to in his preaching was to be found in him. The Kingdom of God, faith, mercy, love, forgiveness… it all was to be found in him. Jesus believed this and John the Baptist believed this. The pull toward Jesus is a return back to God

Lee Krasner, White Squares,

The School

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

The student of Hans Hofmann that best exemplifies the diversity of the Abstract Expressionists (in one career) was Lee Krasner. This Brooklyn native and daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants would alternate between stages of creating painterly, expressive and almost patterned expressions (described as all over style) and then switch to more loose, liquid and free Color Field paintings.


Lee Krasner, Vernal Yellow (from Solstice Series),

Lee Krasner prides herself as knowing every painter that was painting in the Abstract style in New York in those days. In that idea we see how tight knit this diverse movement of artists that we loop under the umbrella of Abstract Expressionism really was. They were not just a generation of painters…they were a community. This informal, disparate community may have been varied in many things but they seemed to have been unified in their tutelage from Hans Hofmann’s ideas. Therefore we refer to them as a school: The New York School. We currently understand a “school” to be a solitary institution, housed in a building where individuals (often) pay tuition to be instructed by teachers. However the historical reality of schools has often been much different. In the artistic, theological and philosophical traditions a school may not have restricted to occurring in a solitary building. Sometimes it occurred out in the world in open air classrooms. It may have occurred in a boat, in a treasury or at a dinner party. Sometimes tuition was not collected or even required. Sometimes it repaid more than it cost. A school is an environment where learning is received from a mutually agreed upon authority. It is when a group recognizes and values the voice of one as a teacher. When Jesus turns to the (former) disciples of John the Baptist (who have been following him around), he asks them “What do you seek?” They responded “Rabbi”… as if to say “a Rabbi.” Now there are several reasons to seek out a rabbi, because rabbis fulfill many functions. They could have been looking for someone to perform a circumcision, marriage, share a sermon or any of several other tasks. But they were looking for a specific function of this clergyman. Noting that confusion may ensue as to their aims in pursuing Jesus as a rabbi, the author of the gospel translates the word Rabbi as a specific role. The narrator defines it as “which is to say, when translated, Teacher.” This group, along with several diverse others from this generation would follow Jesus, recognizing him as a teacher. It must be understood that the followers of Jesus were (and continue to be) a school. Christianity is a place of spiritual learning and practice. Following Jesus comes with the intention to do both. Following Jesus starts with the recognition of his authority over your life and your submission to his teachings.    

Blue Poles, Jackson Pollock

Transformational Meeting

One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

 

Lee Krasner was not just an interesting figure because of her connection to Hans Hofmann but also to Jackson Pollock. She was his family. More specifically she was his wife. When she introduced Jackson Pollock to Hans Hofmann he reportedly said (in near unintelligible German accent), “You do not work from nature. This is no good, you will repeat yourself. You work by heart, not from nature.” To which Pollock responded, “I am nature.” The initial meeting between Jesus and St. Peter went about the same way. The teacher walks into the room and promises to change the individual who is not yet his student. This is one of the accounts of the changing of Peter’s name from Simon to Peter

Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner

(or at least Simon Peter). Once again the narrator interjects to give us the original intention of the characters speaking despite the language difference. The writer shares “which is translated, A Stone.” Lee Krasner probably found herself in a similar circumstance as the gospel writer, playing interpreter. She later shared that although she signed up for Hans Hofmann’s live model, painting class, she could not understand a word of what he said for about six months. I imagine that Jackson Pollock also found it hard to understand Hofmann as well and relied on Lee Krasner, the student who understood the teacher’s intentions. And lo and behold that is why the gospels were written. The first generation of Christians, be they the Apostles or other disciples of Jesus, set out to explain the message of their teacher, Jesus, to others. And we as their modern-day listeners must also decide if we (just like) Simon Peter will chose to be transformed by our meeting with Jesus. Andrew was not just an interesting figure because of his connection to John the Baptist but also to Simon Peter (St. Peter). He was his family. More specifically he was his brother. The narrator tells us that when he introduced Simon Peter to Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ. The author once again does his restrictive translation because he understands that this is the only way to understand who Jesus was. And when you truly understand and follow Jesus as the Lord and Christ, it will transform you.   

Number 1, (Lavender Mist). Jackson Pollock

Movement

Jackson Pollock's paintings are not merely paintings...they are recordings. They are recordings of his every movement with paint. They are a testament to every drip, spill, pour and brush stroke. You may not like Pollock's artwork but you must admit that this is a man who was convinced of what he was doing. Jackson Pollock painted with so much bravado, courage and expression because he was a man who had been inspired. He was one of many who had not only been given a reason to turn the world upside down but also possessed the tools to do so. He had always been a man of dangerous and destructive tendencies but while he was yet inspired he channeled this energy into creative pursuits. It was only when he ceased to be inspired and stopped being creative that his dangerous pursuits turned lethal. So I ask you, if you are a Christian: do you feel the desire to turn the world upside down? You should, because you have been given the tools to do so. The same transformative teaching that the original disciples of Christ received is available to you today. The same inspirational presence of God that motivated them as unstoppable movement back then in here with you now. They committed themselves to learning the message of Christ and practicing the message of Christ. This message was that the Kingdom of God had come down to Earth. This Kingdom was dispelling the forces of darkness. However, this Kingdom could only be seen by the eyes of faith. Maybe our inability to see the Kingdom as they did is due to the fact that our eyes are closed. We are too busy dreaming of God taking us away to Heaven that we don’t realize that Heaven wants to rule the everyday Earth that we reside in. Maybe our inability to act as citizens of the Kingdom is due to our lives being entrenched in sin. It appears that this may be the lesson that we can learn from both Jackson Pollock and the early Christians. The followers of Christ continuously pursued creative channels to channel their faith. They stayed inspired, courageous and expressive of their belief in Jesus’ message. The great tool that their teacher had given them was the Movement based around his teaching. It was a Movement expressed in the transformational moves made in their lives and the world. And if you let it, the Movement will move you.