Always a bother
This is a show of epic proportions, and rightly so. Lee’s character as a woman and an artist comes across powerfully in the works, the interpretative materials and the compilation video on show on the ground floor. I am immediately drawn into her work, her story and the sheer impact of the canvases.
Dynamic, energised, and full of life. Some images have graphic qualities. A buzzer sounds if you cross the line and get too close, such is the ‘value’ of the image. There is something interesting about hearing the noise set off by other viewers – the sound of looking.
There is so much inspiration in the show for me, in some cases I see echoes of creative destruction. In one series she decided the original paintings weren’t working so she tore them up and left them on the studio floor. When she returned to the studio and saw the patterns they created she turned them into large collages.
I like a canvas to breathe and be alive, be alive is the point. Lee Krasner
Another Storm, is on a grand scale, I feel dwarfed and dominated by it, transfixed. Reds, whites, pinks, splatters and movement. The canvas is alive with the paint and asserts itself boldly.
Patinogenesis shows a shift to a more geometric style. The Guardian, 1960, is more intimate and feels more active, like it is in conversation with me. I go back to the collage room and wonder to myself – ‘what if I work bigger?’
I finish back at ‘Assualt’, absorbing the size, quality and texture. I like watching others walk in front of it, reminding me of its scale. I am sure this exhibition is going to have a lasting influence, something I will return to again and again. There is so much to explore and consider.