Splatter Paint Makes a Splash by Ebie Quinn

            The contemporary art in the Fogg museum first appears to be simplistic but once you delve into the descriptions and consider the artist’s thought process, the art becomes the most thought provoking in the whole museum. The Fogg Museum is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. It was opened to the public first in1896. The Fogg joins the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum as part of the Harvard Art Museums. Currently it features a contemporary art exhibit. I felt myself being immediately drawn to the whole exhibit. The old historic pictures were getting boring, and these pieces of art seemed new and meaningful. I took a first walk through admiring the art. I didn’t begin reading the descriptions until the end, but once I did I was pleasantly surprised. By reading about the artists intentions, the pieces of art I was witnessing gained a whole different dynamic. The pictures seemed random but in fact that were speaking about many aspects of society. Immediately I wanted to walk back through again and read each description in an attempt to take the art to the next level.

            The painting that stood out to me the second time, was one I hadn’t necessarily been impressed with the first time through. It was long and thin and took up most of the wall. It was full of many colors going every which way, circling around each other. To me, at first, it looked like the splatter paint picture a child might make. Still, there was defiantly something intriguing about this picture, so I read the description. The artist was named Jackson Pollock and the piece was called  One: Number 2, 1950. I learned that the painting was created through the “poured” technique. This technique involves laying a large canvas out on the floor, and then from above dripping, pouring, and flinging paint at the canvas. The looping, tangled lines, alternatively forceful and delicate, represented his highly physical creative process and served as a record of his engagement. To me this showed the patience and effort it took to produce this work that looked so simple. He had to maintain a balance between chaos and control and he did this quite effectively. The picture also shows Pollock’s interest in the different properties of paints. The paint has many different weights and viscosity’s, it bubbled and cracked and sunk into the canvas in many different ways. Pollock explored the paint and the image of the paint in a very controlled way, while also managing to convey spontaneity, which is a feat that I certainly appreciate.

            The piece and many others were minimalistic and generally visually interesting. The descriptions heighten the experience and leave you thinking about different aspects of modern society. I highly recommend this to anyone with a little free time, for you will surely enjoy examining this modern art.