MoMa Essay

 

Teaching Artwork

         Teaching a person about a piece of artwork is an interesting task. You can teach a person about visual elements of the piece and things like the techniques an artist used or what kind of tools and medium the work conveys, but it gets a little tricky when these aspects are not exactly experienced in person. I recently had the amazing experience of visiting the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), a museum that features modern and contemporary art. During my visit the MoMa had an exhibit on the evolution of Jackson Pollock’s artwork available for viewing. After my first interaction with Pollock in the Modern Art wing at The Met I made it a point to explore this exhibit. Sure enough this exhibit would prove to contain my favorites pieces of art I viewed that day.

"Number 1A"
Jackson Pollock

 

"Full Fathom Five"
Jackson Pollock

                “Number 1A” was one of the last pieces of the exhibit and the one that left the biggest impression on me. Not only was the painting very large in size (68” X 8’8”) but one of the visual elements I was most intrigued by was its texture. Normally a painting’s surface is smooth, as they are categorized as 2D forms of art, but the surface on this piece was anything but. Walking through the exhibit and looking at other works of Pollock’s the idea of a raised surface is a little more noticeable in other pieces of his art like “Full Fathom Five” which was created with materials other than paint like coins, tacks and buttons. But “Number 1A” was created with just oil and enamel paint and a large canvas. What highlighted the texture of this piece was the way light reflected on the two kinds of paint and the shadows it created from areas where there was a larger concentration of paint. When I first approached the piece the areas of the painting where white paint had lightly blended with black paint had in turned created this shade of grey that gave the painting a hazy, clouded, misty aura which almost appeared to come out of the painting. The way Pollock had applied the paint to the canvas was also something which stood out to me. There were areas of the piece where you can see traditional brush strokes, areas where he used his hands to apply the paint to the canvas (more visible in the top right corner) and his technique of dripping and pouring the paint directly onto the canvas which he is more known for. The piece had very little negative space with majority of the canvas being occupied Pollock’s application of paint. The piece is in the non-representational style of art appearing to depict no real subject matter at all.

Closer image of "Number 1A"

 

             The person I chose to attempt to discuss this piece of artwork with was my boyfriend who is right now serving in the U.S Army and is living in upstate New York. With video chat facilitating our discussion I was able to describe the piece to him using and explaining a more artistic vocabulary. His first overall impression of the piece was that it was “Scribble Scrabble” and looked relatively easy to recreate. After discussing with him some of the techniques Pollock used and sending him closer pictures of the painting he was able to see more of the smaller details within the piece. Once I got him to understand just how massive this piece is I think he had an absolute deeper appreciation for the artwork, valuing the details and placement of the paint much more. It was a little difficult to get him to visualize the initial experience I had when I encountered the painting, I think this is an aspect of experiencing the artwork that can only be truly accomplished in person but nevertheless I gave it my best shot in explaining the experience and how the lighting affected the way I viewed the painting. The questions he had for me after explaining the painting to him were a lot more theoretical and opinion based rather than focused the visual aspects of the piece. He asked what the meaning of the painting was and what was the overall statement the artist was trying to convey. I did not have definite answers for these questions as I believe they are absolutely open to interpretation; I gave him my opinion on the matter.

                Overall I found the task of teaching someone else about artwork very helpful in my own personal understanding and perception of the piece. It was interesting to be questioned on ideas about the piece I had, it in turn made consider other possibilities about the meaning and purpose of the artwork.