Jackson Pollock's pour (drip) paintings became the lightning rod for attacks on art, artists, craft, abstraction and even political correctness after their first appearance in 1947. They also became a symbol for advanced art in the United States; they provoked new approaches to criticism, and they have, ultimately, obscured Pollock's own earlier career and the complex socio-political and artistic contexts in which they were produced - helped in large part by Pollock's own volatile personality. This course will consider the artist, his entire oeuvre, and its reception as a defining moment in the history of American art. |