Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American modern artwork

Within the early Seventies, US artist Jack Whitten underwent a dramatic change in his apply. Shifting away from the gestural method of Summary Expressionism, Whitten as a substitute developed his personal extremely revolutionary strategies that partially hid traces of his hand behind instruments and automatic processes. Three occasions are held accountable: a psychological ‘restructuring’, someplace between breakdown and breakthrough following years of overwork, a want to distance himself from the affect of the New York College and an encounter with jazz royalty, John Coltrane.

Of those, the final offers essentially the most compelling clarification for what adopted. One thing concerning the physicality with which Coltrane performed, the best way he utilised physique and breath, but in addition his means to create wealthy texture by stacking or stretching notes, sparked the concept for Whitten of surfaces that had been concurrently flat planes, however, like Coltrane’s sliding notes, contained infinite depth.

Utilizing improvised instruments of his personal design: combs, saws, rubber squeegees and different modified serrated devices, Whitten started raking his private mix of acrylic into parallel grooves that ran throughout the complete canvas, at instances coalescing with the imprinted types of objects he’d positioned beneath. The ensuing summary compositions, whose dense, tactile surfaces consequence not solely from scraping instruments however ice picks, polishers, drills and screwdrivers, fused Whitten’s bodily dexterity as a talented craftsman with an obsession to invent and uncover, one thing that might finally outline the remainder of his profession.