Inspired by the DMA’s two masterpieces by Jackson Pollock and the Blind Spots exhibition (on view through March 20), Arts & Letters Live has commissioned the world-class Texas Ballet Theater to create a new suite of five dances resonant with his art, particularly his black paintings of 1951–1953.
Jackson Pollock—widely considered the most influential American painter of the 20th century—used house paint instead of traditional artist’s paint to create a radical technique that revolutionized the art world in the 1950s. “It doesn’t make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said,” expressed Pollock. “Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement. I control the flow of the paint. There is no accident.”
Gavin Delahunty, Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art and curator of Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots, will share insights into Pollock’s oft-underexplored work and the significance of assembling these thirty-three works of art, which will likely not be reunited again in our lifetime; The Guardian hailed this exhibition as “sensational” and “exhilarating.”
Texas Ballet Theater Artistic Director Ben Stevenson, O.B.E., choreographed the new dances and calls them Reflections of an Iconic Artist. He says, “In no way have I tried to reflect the brilliant work of Jackson Pollock, but have instead gone with the title of his works. [Pollock’s] vision of the title is on the canvas; my vision of his title is with the dancers.”
Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots will be open for ticketholders at no additional cost from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. both evenings.
