We’ve all heard enough from the men. The best way to learn about design is by looking to women who do it well. This is Helen Frankenthaler and here’s why you should give a damn.
Eschewing the traditional way of painting, she stood over a canvas on the floor and said fuck it- poured paint straight onto it. No brush, no going back. Some people referred to her work as “a rag you’d wipe your hands on” and they also called her “the Kotex painter”. She kept going.
1952…she thins her paint down and lets it soak straight into raw canvas instead of sitting on top. No brushstrokes, just color meshing with the canvas. Cut to a year later, two guys walk into her studio, see what she’s doing on the floor, and build an entire movement out of it (color field painting). She’s the one who actually changed abstract art. They just got the credit for naming it.
I saw some of her work last week at Henry Gallery in Seattle and it was magnificent. Frankenthaler was known for being exuberant, full of life, and always up for adventure and play. And let me tell you… it shows in her work.
I’ve been thinking about Frankenthaler ever since and something she said has stuck with me: art should give you insight and truth beyond the painting. Isn’t that the truth. I’ve been seeing a lot of art lately, and it makes even the mundane more rich.
Frankenthaler didn’t ask for permission to do things differently, and neither should you. See you next time, for more of Design Heroines, a series that celebrates women who use making as a philosophical stance and encourages you to do more of it too.
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