An Exclusive Theory of the Universe
The art universe, that is. We’ll leave the cosmological investigations of existence to Carl Sagan, and the intergalactic tour of Abstract Expressionism to Curator Ann Tempkin. Organizing for the MoMA’s current exhibit, Abstract Expressionist New York, Tempkin has had to peruse the museum’s holdings for the pieces that 
best represent the phasic developments of the movement. The three floors of work from, but not limited to, Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Willem de Kooning, Frank O’Hara, Franz Kline, Joan Mitchell, and Richard Pousette-Dart, speak for Abstract Expression not only as an artistic movement that challenged the then axioms of art, but also as the human disposition that lurked and haunted “lofts, apartments, and a bar or two below Fourteenth Street.” The stellar nucelosynthesis that brought a precipitating human climate to the state of art’s topsy-turvy reincarnation is here exhibited on a grand-scale to evoke the essence that served as the origin of inspiration. Peter Schjeldahl of The New Yorker tracks the growth of this galaxy from its nebulous beginnings to its polysemous supernova:
“Like a slow motion animation of the big bang, the show starts with the impacted fury of such late-Surrealist pictures by Jackson Pollock as “The She-Wolf” (1934), proceeds through the movement’s burgeoning maturities, then trails off with the lesser but still glowing efforts of second-generation artists. Along the way, photographs by Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, Robert Frank, and others 
demonstrate Abstract Expressionism’s influence on the camera arts. Questions how the artists, fierce competitors all, stack up now. There are too many pieces by what might be termed major secondary figures—Franz Kline, Hans Hofmann, and Ad Reinhardt—and a lot too many by the long overrated Robert Motherwell and Adolf Gottlieb. Pleasant surprises abound in seldom seen works, including Larry Rivers at his insouciant peak: “Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1953). Altogether, the event satisfyingly captures the coherence and intensity of a scene that was small in size—confined to lofts, apartments, and a bar or two below Fourteenth Street, and a colony in the Hamptons—but monumentally consequential.”
A short video about Abstract Expressionism with footage of the artists at work:
