Staging Jackson Pollock

Installation view of Jackson Pollock exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, 1958; Whitechapel Gallery Archive. Photo by Sam Lambert

What was that? Instantloveland could have sworn it heard the sound of anguished moaning- or was it just a gust of wind?- rising up from within the Whitechapel Gallery’s darkened archive/library space…ah, of course: it’s the unquiet spirit of a certain Jackson Pollock, whose work once writhed on the Whitechapel’s walls, all those years ago…

It seems that sizeable black and white photos of the original 1958 exhibition have been summoned up from the spirit world, along with archival images, letters, newspaper clippings and what have you; taken together, they bring us a little closer to those heady days- yet still leave us feeling a million light years away in space and time…

And to cap it all, Pollock’s ‘Summertime’ –oh, the irony- has been disinterred from the crypt at Tate Modern, driven across town, and re-hung in the icy vaults here at the Whitechapel: come feel the chill for yourself…if you dare. The exhibition runs until 24th March 2019.

Installation view of Jackson Pollock exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, 1958; Whitechapel Gallery Archive. Photo by Sam Lambert