March 7, 2011

A New Textile: "Zippity Blue"

Zippity Blue, hand dyed wool on linen, 9 x 23 1/2 inches.


I had fun with the title of this textile, which I think of as a tutti frutti version, in wool, of Jackson Pollock's drips; it references Barnett Newman's "zips", Pollock's Blue Poles, and a favorite childhood song, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah". I wasn't at all sure I'd like the piece when I started it, but I think it's not bad. The change of color from right to left, from lighter to more saturated, was not something I had planned, but that's okay too. I like the tension between the two thick dark blue zips.


Barnett Newman, Canto II from 18 Cantos, 1964; lithograph, 14 5/16 x 12 5/8 inches.


My favorite Newmans in the MoMA show of abstract expressionism were his prints, a nice surprise for me. This one wasn't in the show, but it's very beautiful, and hey...it's a blue zip!


Jackson Pollock, Blue Poles: Number 11, 1952; oil on canvas; 83 x 192 inches.


For many years I had no way into a Pollock painting, feeling locked out of its meaning. Then one day at the Museum of Modern Art several years ago, I walked into the Pollock room and I can only describe my feeling as a revelation: the paintings were finally transparent to me, and I was stunned by their deep beauty. The webs of paint became metaphors for the universe.






To dye the wool for this piece, I crowded it in a shallow pan and dripped and splashed the colors in spots from a spoon (not a stick) onto it. The result was irregular blotches of color mixing and mingling, with an overall pinkish tone. When the wool strips are hooked, the colors pop up in ways I can't order, so it's all a surprise, resulting in a lighthearted homage.


11 comments:

  1. Oooooh! Zippety Blue is very special! If you'd like it too Altoon, I'd love to see I series of these! :-)

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  2. thanks so much, Mona. As of now I'm not inclined to make more of these; I don't see varied possibilities in it, but you never know...

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  3. I like your art references but what it looks like to me are two dirty tracks across a clean carpet. very funny and zippity.

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  4. well, rappel, as long as the dirty tracks are funny that's fine with me.

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  5. yummy.... sprinkles

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  6. Maybe I'll throw some Japanese papers into an enamel pan then drip color here and there, cut them up and reconfigure them onto canvas
    or panel before I paint some geometric forms on top. I think your
    idea is full of potential---to drip then reconstruct. Chance with a
    few rules. Sounds a bit like John Cage.

    Thanks. Myrna

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  7. yes, tutti frutti candy or sprinkles, A. Fun stuff.

    Myrna, this technique is a fairly standard one in dyeing wool for rug hooking, not something I thought up. But your idea for paper and paint is a really interesting one. Be sure to show me what results!

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  8. Your posts conjure so many memories, Altoon.
    About 1975 I spent a couple of hours in MOMA's print study room with the Cantos series. Always favorites of light and line.
    About the same time, while visiting a good friend north of Chicago, she said, "My next-door neighbors own Pollock's Blue Poles. I was too shy to knock on their door.
    Your Blue Pole is truly a dyed-in-the-wool homage to Messrs. P and N. I like it.

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  9. Thanks so much, Richard, for sharing your memories of Newman and Pollock. And I'm pleased you like my piece.

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  10. This post is like a very satisfying meal to me. You present so many different levels and the shapes/textures/concepts really engage. I like this hooking too for its clearly handmade quality...but then I am probably influenced by very recent trip to Guatemala where the women weave such magic. Did you know the Mayan Goddess of Weaving, Ixchel, also oversees childbirth?

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  11. Thank you, Julie. I had no idea that weaving and childbirth were associated through the Mayan Goddess of Weaving; how very interesting!

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