Weekly Poll: Genius or... not a Genius

[Texan]

OK; I'm going to post a simple poll each week.. I'll offer up a person, past or present (possibly future...), and we'll vote on whether he/she is a genius or a non-genius...

Let the adventure begin:

This week: Jackson Pollock : Mid-twentieth century modern artist. Known for his splatter-paint innovations/painting on the floor. I just watched Pollock earlier this week and I've been doing some reading up on him. ANYWAY... Genius or...Not a Genius- You make the call!! (oh the drama!!)

 

[oopapercutoo]

Modern art is a sham. Anyone can knock over a paint can and call the resulting puddle "modern art." The word genius should only apply to the true artistic masters like DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Beethoven, Mozart, and persons of that caliber. Modern art is the lazy, untalented man's way of trying to appear like he is a deep, spiritual person....I'm onto you Jackson Pollock, you can't fool me!

 

[CaptnHook]

From what I know of Pollock he wouldn't be happy with the label genius. But I think he had the perfect mind and possessed the perfect temperament for his time and that movement.

Tex, one of my favorite lines in that movie was when Pollock, in an effort to describe his "meaning" to a reporter says :
(paraphrasing)
"It's like a bed of flowers; when you see it you don't stand there tearing your hair out trying to understand it."

 

[Texan]

Yeah, Hook, I remember that line too, because it really lent me a new perspective on his work.

To be honest, when I first rented the movie and sat down to watch it I was telling my wife, 'This splatter paint is a bunch of crap. I don't see why his throwing shit on a canvas is any different from me throwing shit on a canvas.'

Then when watching the film I got a little better understanding of Pollock. He wasn't doing it as a gimmick. He was very passionate. And when reading up on him afterwards I saw a lot of his pre-splatter paint works, and he was really, really good at the surrealist/cubist/impressionist type stuff. Then I saw his splatter paint work compared to others who tried to imitate him and you can really tell a huge difference. It's almost like you can feel the emotion behind the art when you look at a Pollock. I know it sounds trite, and I am no art expert by any stretch; that's just my impressions.

I went into the movie thinking "Bullshit" and after the movie and my own research I now think "Genius."

 

[CaptnHook]

Tex-
It was a pretty good flick. It's hard not to like anything with Ed Harris in the main role.
That one moment where Pollack has his epiphany and "accidentally" stumbles upon his style is where I think he crosses over into the realm of genius. In the hands of anyone else that moment might have gone unnoticed or been viewed the same way 99.9999% of people on earth might have treated it: Get a rag and clean it up.
He was viewing the world through a very unique set of eyes.

The other thing I learned from that movie was the term "Cunt-Whore". That had me LMAO.
Unfortunately, my own wife has yet to take a liking to that term of endearment