Pollock, Jackson & Krasner, Lee – “Two Dialogues: Jackson Pollock & Lee Krasner” – [Sooj Records, Inc.]

Naysayer   2/27/2018   A Library, CD

Two of America’s leading Abstract Expressionist painters, also married, interviewed at different stages in their career. Pollock’s interview, from 1950, by his neighbor, is one of the only two recordings of Pollock’s voice. Though many considered him inarticulate in interviews, this shows him thoughtful, though uncomfortable, in answering questions about modern art and his process. He was probably tired of talking about his process. Clipped answers dominate. Lee Krasner’s interview comes later in her life, in the 1980’s. It is the more intriguing of the two interviews. She is strong in her opinions, refusing to be led down the way of the interviewer. She is probably tired of some of the questions, frustrated at being drilled on answering things she does not feel she should answer or has the perspective to answer. The obligatory questions about Pollock come up, even 30 plus years after his death and the fact that she was an established artist in her own right. Great for mixing, especially when Krasner’s phone keeps ringing and she starts telling people how to answer it.