Gestural abstraction

The phrase gestural abstraction refers to a way of making art - not what necessarily gets painted, but how it does. By abandoning the application of paint to a surface in a controlled and premeditated way, gestural painters apply paint intuitively, physically, by dripping, splattering, pouring, smearing or throwing it at the surface itself. What matters to the gestural abstraction painters then isn't the paint but the physicality, honesty, intuition and deep personal expression. This in turn leads to the artist abandoning a focus on subject matter, turning inward for inspiration. As such, the act of painting itself becomes the subject. Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner and Franz Kline led this movement from the 1940s onwards, with Jackson Pollock undoubtedly being the most notable with his pierced paint tins, dripping across the surface of Number 1A, 1948 (1948). Abstract gestural painters explore their deepest emotions and they express that part of themselves during the physical act of painting. Pollock would later note that he had no fears about making changes to a painting, because, he said, the work has a life of its own. The painting itself is a relic of the action, it is a recording of the gestures made. Still influencing artists today, the likes of Caroline Vis and Sebastien Desnos (s3b desnos) both reference Pollock in their work, either echoing the expression of emotion or indeed as Desnos puts it, “action painting."

Search by Image

Save your search and find it in your favorites

12/83 1 10 11 12 13 14 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 83

Categories

Subcategories

Gestural abstraction

Splashes 13

Expression 2

Santorini 5

Mysterious city 2

Fantasmagoriques

Abstract in blue (1)

Joy at School

El banquero

O Lympi

Les 4 éléments N°13

White is golden is green (1)

Earthbound Serenity (1)

La Boum

Pêcher en fleur avant l'orage

Million

Collage fou fou 2

Se voiler la face

Hide & seek II

Untitled

Nocturne III

Nocturne II

Neon IV

Neon III

Neon II

Interactions IV

Interactions VI

Interactions V

Interactions III

Nocturne VI

N° 20.95 Vue d'ailleurs

Blue II

N° 20.83 Oxygène

N° 20.81 Oxygène

N° 21.09 Soleil couchant

Secrets revealed I

Ruptura

To Apollo

Wasserläufer IV

Color gardening VI

Unbekanntes Ufer

Satyriasis

Festosa di sfere

Schwarm

Abiquiu

Vitraux brisés

Autel Noir aux Animaux

Untitled

Untitled

Heart-I

Just rainy-XCIX

Just rainy-XCVIII

Just rainy-XCVII

Just rainy-XCVI

Emotional fragments-III

Emotional fragments-II

Emotional fragments-I

Jazzy mood-LXXXI

Jazzy mood-LXXIX

Abstract landscape-VII

Abstract landscape-III

Abstract landscape-IV

Meadow 31 by M.Y.

Trial to flying-III

Trial to flying-II

Trial to flying-I

Berstia-III