Abstract Expressionism: The Liberation of the Unconscious in Painting

Emerging in New York in the 1940s, Abstract Expressionism is considered the first American art movement of great international influence. This movement moved the epicenter of modern art from Paris to New York. More than a homogeneous style, it was a philosophy that prioritized emotional and psychological expression over figurative form.

Two main trends can be distinguished. On the one hand, "Action Painting," whose greatest exponent was Jackson Pollock. His famous "dripping" techniques transformed the act of painting into a physical performance, where the canvas was a field of action for releasing internal energies and the unconscious. On the other hand, there is "Color Field Painting," represented by Mark Rothko. His large canvases of vibrant, blurred colors seek to provoke a deep emotional and spiritual response in the viewer, immersing them in a contemplative and almost religious experience.

Both movements shared an interest in surrealist automatism and explored the concepts of universality, myth, and trauma after World War II. Abstract Expressionism established abstraction as a valid language for expressing the complexities of modern humanity.

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