THE WEEKLY CHASE | WOMEN OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSION

During my recent hunt through Desert X, I stopped by the Palm Springs Art Museum, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites and I keep finding my way back. This spring, they are hosting the first major exhibition highlighting twelve women artists who have not been as readily recognized within their time, even though they participated alongside men to create the Abstract Expressionism movement. 

The exhibit features artists such as Jay DeFao, Elaine De Kooning, Perle Fine, Helen Frankenthaler, and Judith Godwin, just to name a few. Although I knew some of the women, while others I did not, there wasn't one piece of work that I had seen before. Especially that of Helen Frankenthaler's Jacob's Ladder, which was the first I had seen of her stained canvases. A technique popularized in the 1940's and '50s by Color Field painters, the oil paint is thinned with turpentine and set to soak through the unprimed canvas. The effect results in ghostly layers of color that are defined, but also infused with one another creating an immense depth. This work was no exception. Jacob's Ladder, showcases one of the precursors into her true decade as a color field painter.

Helen Frankenthaler, Jacob's Ladder, 1955.

One of my all time favorite artists of the era, Jay DeFeo, was featured multiple times in the exhibition. The minimal use of Frankenthaler's oils are completely juxtaposed with DeFeo's outlandish use of the medium. Infamous for pieces that are six inches thick, DeFeo utilizes the material more like frosting than paint. The result is otherworldly texture that depicts the visceral feelings of DeFeo's gesture. Always a presence in the room, Defeo's pieces are impossible to contain visually and infinitely entertaining to view.

Women Of Abstract Expressionism proved to be as historically critical as advertised, signifying the need to continue examining art historical movements with a different gaze and featuring minority individuals who are rarely seen.

Jay Defeo, Untitled (Everest) from Mountain Series, 1957.

Jay DeFeo, Incision, 1958-61.

Detail of Jay DeFeo, Incision.