Museum Review

DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART CRITICAL / GALLERY REVIEW

“Painting is a state of being….Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” Jackson Pollock (1912-56)

I chose to write Part 1 of the Museum Critical Review about “Portrait and a Dream” by Jackson Pollock (1953). The contemporary artwork is very large, but not uncommon for Pollock, measuring 58

½ x 134 ¾ inches with oil and enamel on canvas as the medium. The artwork was observed by myself at the Dallas Museum of Art on October 25, 2014 in the Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Galleries on the 1st Floor. The image on the right side of the canvas has been interpreted as Jackson Pollock's self-portrait, perhaps partially obscured by some kind of mask. A similar face appeared in numerous drawings Pollock created over the years, which many critics have suggested relates to his experiences with Jungian analysis, a branch of psychiatry that regards some symbols as universally present in the human subconscious. On the left, an image of a sketchily painted reclining female figure may embody the "dream" of the painting's title. (1)

“Portrait and a Dream” by Jackson Pollock (1953).

In Portrait and a Dream, Pollock experiments with the figure yet retained the freedom of line and composition he perfected in his abstract work. He said part of this "dream" denoted "the dark side of the moon". Pollock’s painting is a diptych on a solid white ground. The left-hand side is an abstract black and white drip painting; the right-hand is a figural self-portrait, attacked with color, and carefully drawn. This may relate to the historical association of symbolic visual imagery with Jungian thematic. Analytical psychology, or Jungian psychology, emphasizes the primary importance of the individual psyche and the personal quest for wholeness. (2) To me, this is very reminiscent of the Classicism Greek art with it’s since of perfection in the human body. Within the elements of art, I can visually observe shape, form, value, lines and curves, color, space relating to the background and foreground, and if you view it closely you can see the artwork has texture from the thick paint on the canvas. Referring to the principles of art, I observed movement, harmony in the all over lines style of painting, variety in the use of color, symmetrical balance between the 2 figures on the canvas, and repetition.

“Me, Sommer Taylor, Being Jackson Pollock”

Like hundreds of artists since the early Renaissance, and probably from even before then, the true meaning of Jackson Pollock’s paintings is not made apparent for the average art lover because, like difficult poetry and even Christ’s teachings, it is hidden from the masses behind the colorful and appealing pattern on the surface. He aimed to discover that essence in him that made him human, the essence we all share with each other and with nature and which earlier generations had called “divine.” (3) I believe only Mr. Pollock himself knew the reasons or narratives behind his artwork. When his wife, Lee Krasner, was questioned about Pollock’s work she stated that she once asked Jackson why he didn’t stop the painting when a given image was exposed and he replied; “I choose to veil the imagery.” We clearly can see his attempts to veil the female figure to the left of the composition and in some way obscure his self-portrait. With most of Pollock’s works, I take a moment to deeply contemplate the piece. Relate it to myself and my feelings. I feel he wanted his artwork to be open for interpretation for the individual viewer. Not a piece that told or forced an opinion or critique upon you but gave you the ability to become creative thinkers and write your own story on the creation. I always feel Pollock’s pain and anguish from alcoholism and mental health issues. I see his struggle with the chaos in his mind and within the world he knew. With having many close family members whom struggle from mental illness and knowing there is a level of genius within them that they haven’t tapped into, I can only appreciate Pollock’s work even greater. He found that heighten sense of genius within art. He created artwork so closely related to the fractals within

nature that no other humans were able to recreate. I find his work puzzling and satisfying. They are so chaotic yet controlled and by that I mean they aren’t just pointless lines on canvas, he clearly had a divine purpose in every mark. They are by my own definition the idea of “Controlled Chaos”.

WORKS CITED

(1) "Portrait and a Dream." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. <https://www.dma.org/collection/artwork/jackson-pollock/portrait-and-dream>.

(2) "Analytical Psychology." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 May 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_psychology>.

(3) "EPPH - Every Painter Paints Himself." EPPH. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014. <http://www.everypainterpaintshimself.com/blog/jackson_pollocks_poetry_of_the_self>.

MUSEUM WORKSHEET

The first piece of art I’d like to discuss in my Museum Worksheet would be the “Standing Male Figure” (nkisi nkondi, Mangaaka type) from Congo. It was created around the late 19th century and the word nkisi means container because it was meant to hold a powerful spiritual force. It is sculpture in the round made of wood, iron, raffia, ceramic, pigment, kaolin, red camwood, resin, dirt, leaves, animal skin, and cowrie shell and stands 44 x 15 5/8 x 1 3/8 inches. It is located in the African gallery on the third floor of the DMA. I can visually observe shape and form, texture in the nails, space, hierarchy, scale and proportion, and emphasis.

All minkisi (sing. nkisi) are containers for magical substances, or “medicines,” that empower them to protect the community or an individual against negative forces. They can, however, also cause misfortune, illness, and death. The containers come in a variety of forms, including cloth bundles, snail shells, clay pots, or sculpted wood figures in animal or human form. The latter type of nkisi is called a power figure. The empowering medicines (bilongo), which were made of vegetal, animal, and mineral elements including dirt from ancestral graves, may be placed atop the nkisi’s head, in its belly (mooyo or life), on its back, or in any natural orifice and sealed in place with resin. The Dallas Museum of Art’s nkisi belongs to a class of minkisi called nkondi. The term is translated as “hunter” of wrongdoers in matters of civil law; the hunter is simultaneously chief, doctor, priest, and judge. The sculpted wood form of the nkisi nkondi is studded with nails or blades that indicate how often the nkisi had been used. This type of nkisi nkondi is intimidating: it stares at the viewer with teeth bared and stands with feet apart on separate blocks that symbolize the worlds of the living and the dead. With its arms akimbo (pakalala, hands on hips), it assumes an aggressive posture called vongananaor “to come on strong.” When oaths were sworn and bonds were sealed before the nkisi nkondi, a ritual specialist-cum-healer/diviner (nganga) hammered a nail, screw, or blade into its body. This activated the spirit and medicines contained within to ensure that those who swore an oath would honor it on pain of death. (4)

This seems to put me in the mind of the mythology and beliefs of the Minoan culture. In the Minoan Crete, Minos (the king of Knossos) was given a great white by Poseidon with the agreement to sacrifice the bull to Poseidon on a later date. Minos was selfish and thought of himself before the people so consequently he broke that covenant or agreement by keeping the bull to hisself instead of sacrificing him. Because of this, karma set in and Poseidon caused Minos’ wife to actually fall in love with the bull and produce a half man half bull monster called the Minotaur. As we can see the similarities in beliefs of the people of Congo and the Minoans all fall back on lessons and principles. A man’s word was highly valued and the consequences of breaking those words were severe.

WORKS CITED

(4) Walker, Roslyn A. The Arts of Africa at the Dallas Museum of Art. Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 2009. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

The second piece of art I’d like to discuss in my Museum Worksheet would be the “Takenouchi no Sukune Mets the Dragon King of the Sea” from Japan. It was created around 1875 - 1879 and is a sculpture in the round made of bronze and glass which stands 54 x 40 x 26 inches. The sculpture is located on the third floor concourse overlooking the south in the Asian art department.

This Meiji period sculpture recounts a popular scene from a dream had by the famous warrior- statesman, Takenouchi no Sukune [tah-kay-noh-oo-chee noh soo-koo-nay], where the Dragon King of the Sea presents him with the Jewel of the Tides. Takenouchi, seen on the right, wears elaborate armor and carries various weapons, such as a dagger, sword, and bow and arrow. The Dragon King, holding out the jewel, wears a fantastical headdress that includes a dragon and heavy ornamentation. The attendant on the left carries a large fan of palm leaves and wears a fish-form mask, lobster girdle, and seaweed skirt. This extraordinary group is a tour-de-force of bronze casting and a great tribute to the artistry of Japanese metal craftsmen. (5)

I can visibly observe a lot of movement and action in this art piece. In addition, there is variety and asymmetrical balance. The glass ball is centralized in the middle of the sculpture and is obviously the focal point. Your eyes then begin to move to the subject presenting the glass ball, the Dragon King, then his attendant, and then the recipient of the jewel, Takenouchi. The flow in the hair and clothing of the two figures on the left in stark contrast to the figure on the right, give way that the subjects are from different worlds. As we study further we realize that the two figures on the left are from the sea. You also begin to notice sea creatures and coral which support this analysis. Although, very subtle, you can tell that the figure on the right, Takenouchi, is slightly taller than the other subjects as he stands upright and armed and the others appear submissive and smaller. This gives way to the idea of hierarchy and the importance of Takenouchi in the composition. We start to see the idea of the hierarchy of scale in Sumerian art where they distinguished between the most important (largest) figure from those of lesser rank.

WORKS CITED

(5) "Document.write(wraptext("Takenouchi No Sukune Meets the Dragon King of the Sea",40));." DMA CONNECT. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014. <http://dmaconnect.org/CONNECT/dma_406362?ssSourceSiteId=null>.

The last piece of art I’d like to discuss in my Museum Worksheet would be the “Figure of a Young Man from a Funerary Relief” from the city state of Athens, Greece. It was created around 330 B.C. and is a sculpture in the round made of marble which stands 63 1/8 x 30 ¾ x 18 ¾ inches. The sculpture is located on the second floor of the Ancient Mediterranean department.

This figure of a young man comes from an elaborate grave memorial. Originally, the figure of the youth would have been framed by an architectural shrine that also included other figures, such as the boy’s aged father. His nude body has the radiant purity of an athlete in his prime, although implicit in the work is a sense of tragedy, as the young man has died in the flower of youth and beauty.(6)

Ancient Greeks carved their art to look like themselves, extremely lifelike. The art mapped out the human body in rounded, smoothed out marble that mirrored them directly. No other civilizations had ever depicted this in their art which is what makes the Greeks unique. Archaic art came first then comes classicism art like this sculpture. We can also observe the contrapposto position in the sculpture where the disposition of the human figure in which one part is turned in opposition to another part creating counterpositioning of the body about its central axis. This is also called “weight shift” because the weight of the body tends to be thrown to one foot, creating tension on one side and relaxation on the other.(7) The Nkisi Nkondi and the Takenouchi no Sukune Mets the Dragon King of the Sea sculptures both are truly mythical rather than realistic like the Greek art sculpture. In addition, they both resembled an idea or had a purpose of a lesson in contrast to the Greek art that was built to display the strength and perfection of the Greek man.

WORKS CITED

(6) "Figure of a Young Man from a Funerary Relief." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014. <https://www.dma.org/collection/artwork/ancient-mediterranean/figure-young-man-funerary- relief>.

(7) Gardner, Helen, and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2009. Print.