“America Is Hard to See” from the Whitney Museum of American Art’s collection offers one an opportunity to retrace the history of art in the United States. There are more than six hundred works from artists from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present (America Is Hard To See 2015). The essay analysis two works of art from the exhibition.Lee Krasner - The Seasons, (1957)This is Oil on canvas by the ambitious artist and titled “The Seasons”. The large canvas brilliant with colors clearly belongs to Abstract Expressionism. What strikes you ate first are those swirls of bright green and red separated by black strokes. Those lines and colors are intense and force the viewer to look at it. Krasner certainly knows how to expand the visual vocabulary of Abstract Expressionism. There is a kind of chaos in the artwork but under control. The painting demonstrates the expressive power of colors, the lines and gestures. Bright colors on the surface with well-controlled drips stimulate emotions, forcing one to think as to what those colors and strokes are trying to say. What draws the attention is the spherical objects shaded in red that covers the center of the canvas. It could be a fruit that is slightly opened perhaps because it is overripe. The bright reds and greens may stand for the richness of nature and seasons. There is nothing schematic about the artwork, and one can see an independent spirit in the work that shows the independence and carefree nature of the seasons that come and go. The Abstract Expressionism in the artwork evokes the feeling of hope and fill you with warmth because of those bright colors.Willem de Kooning - Woman and Bicycle, (1952-1953)Another interesting work in the exhibition is from Willem de Kooning, “Woman and Bicycle” which is Oil, enamel, and charcoal on linen. The abstract expressionist painting is massive in size and difficult to decipher, although it is understood to be figurative. This is because of the haphazard style used by the artist in its creation. One can definitely make out the eyes of the woman, her smile, and the oversized bosom. She wears high heels with a bright yellow skirt and has a color around her waist. The background is done in random colors and strokes. It seems the artist has altered the painting many times or changed his mind. Those pair of large eyes gazes intently at the viewer. There are wildly gestural brushstrokes that suggest of two arms in upright position. Kooning’s painting appears to be crazy and sexy at the same time. However, because of the very strong brushstrokes, there is no clear boundary or form to the figure of the woman. There are crudely brushed plans, and curly lines painted dispersedly and randomly. The aggressive brushstroke creates an outward going energy on the canvas as if trying to move beyond the canvas. Still, the basic composition of picture reflects the artist’s activity in the creative process as he makes the work look more energetic with the use of warm color tones. The overlapping colors compress the space of the painting, and it is difficult to make the demarcation between the woman, the Bicycle, the grassland and the sky. He makes use of contrasting colors such as greens and yellows, reds and blues, reds and greens. The body of the woman is done in warm colors while the background is in cold color, so as to catch the focus of the viewer on the woman’s breast and face. The bicycle seems to be at the bottom left of the picture, and most people find it hard to locate the bicycle. The information of painting is clearly very abstract and not clearly presented. The artist wants to express his thoughts and emotion with the artwork and not just a woman riding a bicycle. One can feel the violence tearing the body that lacks the idealized appearance of a woman. The feverishly done painting destroys the beauty’ of a woman, giving her an edgy look and present her as an unmindful person.
Works Cited
"America Is Hard To See May 1–Sept 27, 2015." Whitney Museum of Art. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2016
