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Abstract Expressionism

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Art historians agree that Abstract Expressionism began in 1947 when Jackson Pollock abandoned the easel and created his first "drip painting". Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, and others were certainly discovering equally innovative perspectives and techniques, but after Life Magazine asked in a feature spread in 1949 if Pollock was indeed "the best painter in America", America quickly became curious. Nevertheless, critics had a difficult time explaining the concepts behind the form many first referred to (often in derogatory terms) as "psychological action painting". A year later, however, Abstract Expressionism had captured America's fascination and skyrocketed into the mainstream. As de Kooning said at the time, "Jackson broke the ice". When I entered college fourteen years later Abstract Expressionism was in full bloom . So it was only natural that Abstract Expressionism would have a profound impact on my development as the painting genre and I arrived in college art classes around the same time. Even though Pollock, Kline, and Arshile Gorky were dead in 1963, many of the other celebrated, innovators of the genre

- de Kooning, Clifford Still, Mark Rothko, and Adolph Gottlieb- were still alive and creating important and provocative new and beautiful works. Warhol and the “Pop” artists were beginning to make waves that would soon come to dominant the art world, but when I entered formal training Abstract Expression was at it's peak. I agreed then -and now- with the art teachers who commented in my painting classes that Abstract Expressionism represented a new -truly American- form of painting. It continues to speak to me creatively.

Omaha, 40"x30", various automobile paints and enamels on board

Brown and Red on Black,24"x18",

acrylic on canvas, 2017

Untitled #15, 28"x22", acrylic on canvas, 1982

_Whip-poor-will_, 24_X24_, acrylic on ca

When Satchmo Scats the Heebee Jeebees, 28"x22", acrylic on canvas, 2019

The Peyote Water Bird, 30"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2017 (in the collection of Beth Field, Tulsa, OK)

Deliverance, 30"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2017

The Seventh Wave, 30"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2017l T

In-Kline-Nations in Order and Chaos, 36"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2018

Whip-O-Will, 24"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2019

Possession in Great Measure, 40"x30", sawdust and acrylic on canvas, 2017

Exhibition at Centenary College of Louisiana,

Shreveport, Louisiana, 2013

Exhibition at Centenary College of

Louisiana, Shreveport, LA. 2013

It Ain't What It Is, and It Is What It Ain't, 28"x22",

acrylic and sawdust on canvas, 2018

Starburst, 40"x30", acrylic on canvas, 2017

_Mocha Iktomi_, 48_x30_, 2019.jpg

Mocha Iktomi, 40"x30", acrylic on canvas, 2019

Dark Horse, 40"x30", acrylic and sawdust on canvas, 2017

Aura Breeching, 24"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2017

IMG_3405.jpg

Eclipse, 24"x24", acrylic on canvas, 2017

Approach, 36"x18", acrylic on canvas, 2017

Ouachita, 40#x18", acrylic and sawdust on canvas, 2017

The Default Mode Network Implies Positive and Negative Space, 60"x30", acrylic on canvas, 2019

The Edge, 24"x20", oil and holographic paper on canvas, 1998

Alone Together, 36"x 16", acrylic on canvas, 2020

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