Order is the last word most people would associate with abstract
art. But for the late abstract painter, Alfred Jensen, the
rationality of math and science was what defined art.
Through April 19 at the Santa Monica Museum of Art “Alfred
Jensen: Concordance” displays the artist’s blend of
Abstract Expressionism with the forward-looking spirit of the
1960s. The exhibit is curated by Lynne Cooke of the Dia Center for
the Arts in New York and is the first comprehensive West Coast solo
exhibition of this lesser-known yet unique artist.
A contemporary of such artists as Jackson Pollock and Mark
Rothko, Jensen’s paintings emerge as solely his own in his
use of ancient number systems and modern science to create works
with richly colored geometric designs infused with a sense of
Central American culture.
“These are the last major works before Jensen’s
death. By picking these 10 paintings, we have tried to map, in a
rudimentary way, Jensen’s shift in interests,” said
Cooke.
The painter’s shifting interests mirror the many
influences in his own life. Born in Guatemala City in 1903, Jensen
studied fine art in San Diego, Munich and Paris in the 1920s,
though Cooke says he didn’t come to maturity as an artist
until the 1960s.
Before becoming an artist, Jensen fed his interest in art by
traveling around Europe and Northern Africa with his companion,
American heiress Sadie May. While abroad, he began collecting
modern pieces. In the early 1950s he settled in New York where he
met and befriended Pollock. In 1952, Jensen had his first solo show
in New York, after which he began exhibiting widely.
During the following decades, Jensen became curious about Mayan
and ancient cultures as well as science. According to Cooke, these
influences led Jensen to make his canvases into metaphysical
statements.
“Jensen shared an interest in myth, primitive and ancient
cultures with Pollock and their contemporaries,” said Cooke.
“Being in their company reinforced his interest in those
fields, but Jensen was more interested in technology and looking
toward the future.”
For those who love the sensuality and emotion that art captures,
geometry, math and astronomy may seem like subjects far too dry to
fill a canvas. However, Jensen was driven to find a rational system
that could give meaning to the life that Abstract Expressionism
found existential and tragic.
Indeed, his pieces give the viewer much to think about.
Jensen’s canvases are completely covered with paint, which he
often applied either straight from the tube or with a palette
knife. This technique uses colors to create textured puzzles,
melding order and aesthetics.
In “Physical Optics” from 1975, circles and squares
look like they are pulling apart from each other through a web of
arrows. A vivid rainbow of colors draws the eye all over the
painting, yet the rigid geometry of the symbols used gives viewers
a sense that there is order underlying what seems obscure.
The nature of Jensen’s paintings is so tied to the ethos
in which he worked that it makes it difficult for today’s
audiences to enjoy his pieces without first doing some homework.
For a limited time, Los Angelenos can do their own homework on a
rare painter often overlooked in the Abstract Expressionist
school.
The Santa Monica Museum of Art is located at the Bergamot
Station at 2525 Michigan Ave. Admission is free. For more info,
visit www.smmoa.org.