Richard Prince Covers Jackson Pollock at Guild Hall
To imagine Richard Prince doing drip paintings in honor of Jackson Pollock is too linear a concept for what Prince does in Guild Hall’s new exhibition, Richard Prince: Covering Pollock. The iconic abstract expressionist is pure subject for Prince’s collages, repetitions in the manner of Warhol, Rauchenberg-like juxtapositions. He’s evoking a whole lot more than just Pollock in this homage.
Photographs of the serene Springs setting where Pollock and Lee Krasner lived and worked, some with Krasner posing, another with girlfriend Ruth Kligman, another with the fatal car upturned, collaged with cancelled checks, or snapshots, some pornographic. Prince says in a conversation with Lisa Phillips, Director of the New Museum, curator of Prince’s first show at the Whitney, “I’m imagining what he would do today if he were still alive. What music he would listen to, what activities he would be involved with?”
On Friday, the annual Guild Hall summer gala followed the Prince opening, at the historic Gardiner estate. Master of Ceremonies Alec Baldwin made the usual introductions, of movie producer Michael Lynne, chair of the museum committee, honoree Martha Stewart, DJ Alexandra Richards (daughter of Keith, he noted) and then Baldwin strongly advised the seated dinner and auction guests including Larry Gagosian, Dina Merrill and Ted Hartley, and James Frey, “When the Clifford Ross comes up, don’t get in my way.”