The “Jackson Pollock: Blind Spots” exhibition at the Tate Liverpool, co-organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, is the first in more than three decades to survey the lesser-known paintings of the late Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), made between 1951 and 1953. It was during this period that Pollock’s practice underwent a radical transformation from the colorful, decorative, non-figurative drip paintings of the previous four years to a phase of work known as his “black pourings,” a fascinating series of poured black enamel and oil paintings.
Readable as “blind spots” in an otherwise intensely debated career according to the Tate, Pollocks’s black pourings were motivated by a desire to return to the origins of his art and reinvigorate his practice following a period of personal difficulty. First exhibited at Betty Parsons Gallery, New York in 1951, with another collection shown at Sidney Janis Gallery, New York in 1952, it is the largest gathering of these works in a public institution since the ICA Boston presentation in 1980.
Audiences will be introduced to Pollock’s practice via selection of his important drip paintings made between 1947-50, including “Summertime: Number 9A 1948” (Tate) and “Number 3, 1949: Tiger 1949.” His black pourings will be presented alongside black unique works on paper and prints from the same period as well as a number of virtually unknown and rarely seen sculptures, giving viewers what the Tate describes as “the opportunity to reconsider his intentions as an artist.”
