Music, School of
Date of this Version
2022
Abstract
American Visions is a musical portrait of six mid-century American Abstract Expressionist painters.
Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) uses twisted, elegant lines in 'biomorphic' forms in his abstract paintings along with an overlay of colors, synthesizing Surrealism with abstraction. Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) is identified with the use of fluid shapes, abstract masses, and lyrical gestures. She used formats on which she painted, generally, simplified abstract compositions.staining into raw canvas Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) painted in a style that came to be referred to as "action painting” .The female figure is an important umage.. Mark Rothko (1903-1970) evolved to a style best known for his "color field" paintings depicting irregular and luminous rectangular regions of color. Jackson Pollock (1912- 1956) was widely noticed for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles, an approached called "all-over painting". Clyfford Still (1904-1980) his non-figurative paintings are largely concerned with juxtaposing different colors and surfaces in a variety of formations, recalling natural ancient stalagmites, caverns, foliage, seen both in darkness and in light.
program note: During performance, representative examples of each artist's work may be projected, such as the following: Gorky: The Liver is a Cock's Comb ; Frankenthaler: The Triumph of Colour ; de Kooning: Woman No. 1 ; Rothko: Orange and Yellow ; Pollock: White Light Still: 1957-6
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Copyright © 2022 Randall Snyder