Creative Force
Lee Krasner at the Barbican Art Gallery
Lee Krasner never received her proper dues as the dynamic artist she was during her lifetime. She easily matches any of her Abstract Expressionist peers, including her husband who took the vast majority of the spotlight. However, over the past couple of decades, Krasner has become a venerated and respected figure in the history of twentieth-century art. While Krasner’s contributions have gained traction and recognition, a new exhibition entitled Living Colour at the Barbican Art Gallery in London is shockingly the first major European retrospective of the artist’s work in half a century. Like other corrections to Krasner’s legacy, this show successfully argues that Krasner’s voice as an artist is not only distinct, but powerful and arresting.
The Barbican’s iteration of Krasner’s work hits all of the major notes and themes of the artist’s career, while also presenting a few surprises. Not surprisingly, the existential angst of a post-war America mixed with her own turbulent relationship with Jackson Pollock and his scene would influence her art. Vibrant, swirling forms and colorful nebulae dominated her work in the 1940s. Unfortunately, these were rarely considered since she was now considered just the wife of the most famous artist in America. The 1950s became more electric in their color palette, but instead of joyous color, there seems to be a hint of violence or danger. One shock in the exhibition that may inform this evolution is the painting Prophecy from 1956. The work is a somewhat disturbing painting that is rendered in lurid color and twisted, biomorphic forms. She left for Paris for a respite and abandoned the painting in her studio because it frightened her. However, once she left for Europe, Pollock died in a drunk driving accident. Prophecy suddenly feels even more ominous in retrospect.
Despite losing her husband and mother within a few years and being deemed out of fashion and redundant by critics, Krasner was wildly productive and persistent for the rest of her life. In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, somber, neutral canvases roil with brushstrokes. They exude grief and rage, and feel like one of the most honest iterations of the Abstract Expressionist style. Eventually color returned with massive works like Through Blue of 1963 and Icarus of 1964, although their energetic compositions still seem to nearly shake the paintings off the gallery walls. While often those around her were self-destructive, Krasner was the opposite. Even in th end of her life in the 1970s, she cut up drawings from early in her career, but rather than throw them away she mounted them on canvas and made something entirely new and wonderful.
While representation in the arts is still dominated by white men, Living Colour is a testament to those who were among the first to fight for their voice and place in this world. If Lee Krasner can teach one anything, it is that patience, hard work, talent, and determination can succeed and will be remembered. Her art alone proves that.
