Monday, May 19, 2014

Jackson Pollock - Male and Female

Artist: Jackson Pollock, January 1912 - August 1956
Title: Male and Female
Dimensions: 186.1 x 126.2 cm
Medium: Oil on canvas
Date: 1942
References: totallyhistory.com, philamuseum.org, wikipedia.org




Jackson Pollock was a Russian painter that struggled with mental instability. It was recommended that he use his expressive art as therapeutic treatment. The portrait Male and Female was created during as such a means. The image displays two distorted figures, one male and one female entwined in each other.  The colors are bright and vibrant and the two figures appear in abstract form. Each figure is meant to represent unique characteristics. The male has numbers and mathematical symbols that are said to represent intellect and culture and the female has big eyes with long eyelashes and a curvy figure to represent sensuality and nature. When asked to elaborate on his artwork Pollock claimed that “ any attempt on my part to say something about it… could only destroy it” (Philamuseum).

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