Joan Mitchell: leaving America consists of an essay by Helen Molesworth and a catalogue of Mitchell’s paintings exhibited at Hauser and Wirth 2007. Molesworth’s essay gives an insight to the influences of the artist between the years 1958-1964 including Jackson Pollock and William de Kooning. In addition, Molesworth writes this essay with a feminist outlook without explicitly defining Mitchell as a feminist. Mitchell fell between two periods of feminist movements and Molesworth describes how the artist’s struggle to success and the rage seen in her abstract paintings inspired future feminist artists.

I am particularly drawn to Mitchell’s explanation of colour “they don’t mean anything, they simply are, they exist as letters in the alphabet exist” (Mitchell 1992, cited in Molesworth, 2007, p.8) showing that her colour choices are linguistic and used in combination with her application of paint described as “analogous to poetry” Molesworth (2007, p.9). When studying the paintings included I can see the large curving brushstrokes competing with drips and smears of paint. The conversation between the various marks and colours becomes clearer, as well as the artist’s emotions.

Bibliography

UNTERDÖRFER,M.(2007)  Joan Mitchell: leaving America, Germany: Steidl Hauser & Wirth.