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Pollock-Krasner Foundation Announces Publication Of Lee Krasner: The Unacknowledged Equal By Art Critic And Author Carter Ratcliff

ESSAY EXPLORES KRASNER’S FUNDAMENTAL ROLE IN CREATING REVOLUTIONARY “ALLOVER” PAINTING

Scholarly essay is available to download on the Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s website

New York, NY – August 20, 2020 – The Pollock-Krasner Foundation today announced the publication of Lee Krasner: The Unacknowledged Equal by art critic, poet, and writer Carter Ratcliff. In the long-form essay, Ratcliff investigates Krasner’s life and practice from her early days as Hans Hofmann’s student to the production of her late masterworks. Through meticulous research and careful analysis, Ratcliff provides detailed insight into the evolution of Krasner’s work, worldview, and relationship with Jackson Pollock—definitively bringing her out of Pollock’s shadow. Ratcliff goes beyond giving Krasner her rightful due, he sheds new light on her accomplishments and argues that Krasner was as much the inventor of “allover” painting as Pollock. The scholarly essay is available to download at no charge at pkf.org. A bound, fully illustrated print version of the essay will be available later this year.

The forward to Lee Krasner: The Unacknowledged Equal is written by art critic, poet, and writer John Yau who notes, “Ratcliff’s reading of the extent that Krasner and Pollock influenced each other as they approached the breakthrough of what we know as “allover” painting is eye-opening, thrilling, and indispensable: he has shown us something we have not seen before, even though it has literally been in front of our eyes for more than 70 years.”

“For over three decades, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation has been dedicated to advancing scholarship on Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock while also providing support to emerging and established artists,” said Ronald D. Spencer, Chairman and CEO of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. “Given Carter Ratcliff’s prolific career as a critic and author, his commitment to thorough research, and his deep knowledge of Krasner’s work, it is an honor to publish this volume. There has long been an imbalance in the recognition accorded Krasner and Pollock. Ratcliff rebalances their legacies and enables us to see the work of both artists with new eyes.”

“As happy as I have been to see Lee Krasner recognized, at long last, as a leading member of the Abstract Expressionism’s first generation, I felt as well that the most important part of her story had not yet been told,” said Carter Ratcliff, author of Lee Krasner: The Unacknowledged Equal. “It has to do with the “allover” image, an innovation routinely credited to Jackson Pollock. Often described in narrowly formal terms, the allover image is, in fact, an inexhaustibly powerful symbol of American ideals of equality and unbounded possibility. In looking closely at the intertwined art and lives of Krasner and Pollock during the mid-1940s, I saw that she was not merely present at the birth of this radically new way to make a painting. She took an active and equal part in its creation. Lee Krasner: The Unacknowledged Equal is meant to take the full measure of her importance to the history of art—and to our culture.”

To accompany the print version of Lee Krasner: The Unacknowledged Equal, to be released later this year, the Foundation will collaborate with a range of partners to present panels and events on Krasner’s work and legacy. More details on these events will be announced in the coming months.

The Foundation has provided invaluable resources to support artists and non-profit organizations since its inception in 1985. Recently, the Foundation provided grants to works that advance scholarship on Krasner’s legacy, including the Barbican Centre’s monograph that accompanied Krasner’s first major European retrospective, Lee Krasner: Living Colour. Since the exhibition’s opening at the Barbican Centre in May 2019, it has traveled across Europe and is currently on view at Zentrum Paul Klee in Switzerland until August 16, 2020. Later this year, the exhibition will be on view at the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain. The Foundation also supported the memoir Lee and Me: An Intimate Portrait of Lee Krasner, published in May 2020 by the late Ruth Appelhof, former Executive Director Emeritus of Guild Hall.

In May, the Foundation announced that it awarded nearly $3 million to 121 artists and not-for-profit organizations during its 2019-20 grant cycle, providing vital support to emerging and established artists nationally and internationally. For more information on the recent grant recipients, visit www.pkf.org/press-releases/.

ABOUT POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION

For more than three decades, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation has supported working artists and not-for-profit organizations internationally. Established in 1985 through the generosity of Lee Krasner, one of the foremost abstract expressionist painters of the 20th century and widow of Jackson Pollock, the Foundation is a leader in providing resources to emerging and established artists. To date, the Foundation has awarded nearly 5,000 grants totaling $79 million in 78 countries. For more information, including guidelines for grant applications, visit the Foundation’s website: www.pkf.org.

ABOUT CARTER RATCLIFF

Carter Ratcliff is a poet and art critic, the author of The Fate of a Gesture: Jackson Pollock and Postwar American Art; Out of the Box: The Reinvention of Art 1965-1975; and Andy Warhol, as well as books on Francis Bacon, Gilbert & George, Alex Katz, Marisol, Georgia O’Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, and other artists. His writings on art have appeared in catalogues published by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Royal Academy, and many other museums in the United States and abroad. His writing has also appeared in such journals as Art in America, Artforum, ArtNews, Tate, Art Studio, Hyperallergic, and The Brooklyn Rail. He is a contributing editor at Art in America and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Frank Jewett Mather Award for Art Criticism.

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Press Inquiries:

Resnicow and Associates

Caroline Farrell

212-671-5157

cfarrell@resnicow.com

Pollock-Krasner Foundation awards Todd Williamson the Pollock Prize for Creativity

photo courtesy Todd Williamson

$50,000 Prize Supports His Exhibition, “Processional”

At Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà During the 58th Venice Biennale

May 9 through November 24, 2019

 

New York, NY – March 5, 2019 – The Pollock-Krasner Foundation has awarded the Pollock Prize for Creativity to Todd Williamson. The $50,000 award will be directed towards Williamson’s exhibition Processional, a solo installation on view during the 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, May 9 through November 24, 2019.

In partnership with MAK Center for Art and Architecture and curated by MAK Executive Director Priscilla Fraser, Processional will be presented at the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pietà, located on Riva degli Schiavoni between St. Mark’s Square and the entrance to the Arsenale. Williamson’s eight large-scale canvases will be displayed on the walls of a narrow chapel and will interact with the 18th-century church’s classically proportioned interior, challenging perceived order and tradition. The exhibition will explore contemporary influencers and thought leaders such as Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, and Nelson Mandela. It will also feature a sound room in the entry vestibule, with music that will be a harmonic nocturne created in collaboration with Professor Greg Walter from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

The annual Pollock Prize for Creativity, created to honor the artistic legacies of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, is given to an artist whose work embodies high creative standards and has a substantial impact on individuals and society. Previous Pollock Prize winners include Amy Sherald and Gideon Mendel. The Foundation also honors artists with the Lee Krasner Award, recognizing a lifetime of distinguished artistic achievement. Recipients have included Mel Chin, Chris Drury, Alfred Leslie, Don Nice, Morgan O’Hara, and Masami Teraoka.

Established in 1985 through the generosity of Lee Krasner, the Foundation provides grants to artists that allow them to create new work. Since inception, the Foundation has awarded $75 million to 4,500 artist grantees in 77 countries. These grants can be used by artists to create new work, rent studio space and prepare exhibitions.

Williamson, an American artist based in California whose work has been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Milan, Naples, and Tokyo, has been part of the California school of abstraction and was the recipient of a 2010 Pollock-Krasner Grant.

“Todd Williamson is a gifted artist who, with curator Priscilla Fraser, has created an innovative installation,” said Ronald D. Spencer, Chairman and CEO of Pollock-Krasner Foundation. “The Venice Biennale provides a wonderful platform for Todd to show his work on an international stage. We are delighted to help support his exhibition, because fostering new work and the development of visual artists is central to the Foundation’s mission.”

“I am deeply honored to be recognized by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation with the Pollock Prize for Creativity. The award provides invaluable support for my work in Venice, allowing me to focus on the creation of my art,” said Todd Williamson. “I am grateful to the Foundation for their generous support.”

Williamson’s concept for Processional interplays with the Chiesa di Santa Maria Della Pietà’s classical design. Occupying the long, narrow chapel located to the side of the Church, the space will invite a meditative, sequential process of reflection. Drawing from the formal proportions, material richness, and dramatic natural light of the site, Williamson has developed a series of works to encourage contemplation yet challenge the perceived order. The eight-painting installation will offer a new layer to the deep patina of aging plaster and brick, establishing a rich, and continuous monochromatic palette.

ADDITIONAL POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION GRANTS

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation is also supporting Madison Square Park Conservancy’s role as commissioner of the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2019 with a $100,000 grant towards Martin Puryear’s exhibition, Martin Puryear: Liberty/Martin Puryear: Libertà.

From May 28 through September 1, 2019, the Barbican Centre will present Lee Krasner: Living Colour, the first major European retrospective of the artist’s work in over 50 years. The Foundation is a major lender to the exhibition and has provided funding for its accompanying monograph, edited by art historian and Barbican Art Gallery curator Eleanor Nairne and co-published by Thames & Hudson and the Barbican. The Lee Krasner exhibition will travel to the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt October 10, 2019 – January 12, 2020, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern February 7 – May 10, 2020 and Guggenheim Bilbao May 29 – September 6, 2020.

ABOUT TODD WILLIAMSON
For the past 20 years Todd Williamson has been a vital part of the California school of abstraction. Williamson has exhibited extensively both in the United States and internationally including the Palm Springs Art Museum (2016), Galerie Stenzel (2017), Villa di Donato (2015), and MOCA Museum (2009). Williamson has been awarded two ArtSlant International Showcase Awards, Curator’s Choice Award from the Micro Museum, Brooklyn NY, and an Artistic Merit Award from the City of Naples, Italy.

ABOUT POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 through the generosity of Lee Krasner, a leading abstraction expressionist painter and spouse of Jackson Pollock. Based in New York and operating internationally, the Foundation’s grants enable artists to advance their art. Recipients of Pollock-Krasner grants have acknowledged their critical impact in allowing concentrated time to work in the studio and prepare for exhibitions.

 

To provide additional support, the Foundation maintains an up to date and comprehensive Grantee Image Collection representing the work of artists who have received grants since 1985. For more information, including guidelines for grant applications, the public may visit the Foundation’s website: www.pkf.org.

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Press Inquiries:

Resnicow and Associates

Caroline Farrell

212-671-5157

cfarrell@resnicow.com