A notification from Kasmin Gallery alerted me to an exhibit that I was very excited to see: Lee Krasner: Collage Paintings 1938-1981
Lee Krasner is better known by some as the famed abstract expressionist painter Jackson Pollock‘s wife.
The exhibition was a tightly curated ensemble of works from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and private collections.
I admit I was initially interested in seeing Krasner’s works as
1. I’ve read about more than experienced her,
2. I was intrigued by her relationship with Jackson Pollock as an artist and as a partner in life
and
3. I was interested in exploring how her works have influenced the style of Jackson Pollock and vice versa.
She is also known for her large canvas and Neo-cubist works, and while the exhibition primarily displays Lee Krasner’s collage paintings, I was able to see one or two paintings that reflected her other “periods” of style:
Things to note if you have have the chance to visit Kasmin before it closes
A couple things caught the attention of my friend Georgia and I:
- The way some had glass/plexi-glass on top and others didn’t. We wondered whether it had something to do with who owned the work that is being displayed; from what I’ve learned so far through self-teaching and asking peers in the art business, owners’ and collectors’ preferences sometimes have a lot of sway in regards to curatorial decisions.
Curious, I went up to the gallery assistant and asked him whether this work belonged to someone else and did not belong to the Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Verdict: It was in fact from the private collection of another!
- Her changing artistic styles from monochrome to stark color contrasts.
- Her heavy handed use of various materials; her interesting use of something that looks a lot like blue tape.
- That she seemed to prefer more jagged, angular shapes vs Pollock’s round style of paint application. We did see some marks reminiscent of Pollock’s trademark shapes and textures in a couple of Lee Krasner’s paintings on display.
Bisous,
Soo
Letters by Soo 