Monday, September 12, 2022

EXISTENTIAL EXIT STREET ART


JACKSON POLLOCK
STREET ART


I set my Garmin on a course for Starbucks as the gym faded in my rearview mirror today.  I ordered a Grande cold brew (now that I have been gently reminded of the SB nomenclature) and decided on another trip to nowhere to consume it.  We retirees have that option on a Monday these days after rush hour clears. 

I noticed landscapers hurrying to finish their assigned tasks and all sorts of service vans on the road beginning another hurried work week to make ends meet at home.  Some house painters were busy at work putting the finishing touches on a home just before I turned off the interstate and set a course for home.

As I signaled my intention to make a sharp right exit onto one more artery street, my eye caught the quick sight of a spilled can of white paint.  The partially used can had obviously had the lid pried off earlier as it was placed in the back of either an open bed truck or trailer.  The driver must have been late for a job and turned onto the exit with enough force to throw the can onto the pavement, knocking off the lid and rapidly forcing the contents out before its path!

My mind immediately connected with the paintings of Jackson Pollock whose most famous paintings were created around 1950.  He poured household paint onto horizontal surfaces which enabled him to view and paint his canvases from all angles.  His work titled Number 17A sold for $200 million in 2016.

And now we have an impressive street art piece close to my own home which I can view at my leisure at no cost for at least the next few months until winter snow and frozen rains force snow plows and traffic to obliterate it.  Ironically, Pollock lost his life on the street at the age of 44 in a single-car accident in December 1956, but his influence still resides in my memory on the streets of Jamestown, North Carolina in 2022.

No comments:

Post a Comment