| Working in the wake of Abstract Expressionism, Cy Twombly sought a way backward and forward. While deeply influenced by the formal strategies of Jackson Pollock, Twombly aimed at addressing a perceived disconnect between modern art and its sources. From Pollock's gesture, he distilled language and time and established these themes as the content of his subsequent work. Moreover, with these themes, Twombly positioned his work as a corrective measure against the prevailing formalist definition of modernism and the related imperatives for advanced painting. The autonomous, flat space seen as the ultimate goal of modernism is equated with a space for writing and becomes his justification for the reintegration of language and subject matter. And it was through these modalities that Twombly bridged the gap between modern art and the past. This nostalgic view towards the past ultimately undermined the relentless pursuit of the 'new' inherent to the avant-garde. |
