This week at The Reeler I discuss, Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? a movie that opens tomorrow at the IFC Center, which I encourage you all to see. Despite the obnoxious marketing of this film, it does address the fact that there seems to be mounting scientific evidence that the piece Teri Horton purchased at a thrift store 14 years ago, is a real Pollock. If you’re truly fascinated by the processes of authentication, you can visit the site of forensic scientist, Peter Paul Biro, who has published the fastidious research for this case online. I will be posting additional conversation and commentary on the film here later on in the day, because, quite frankly, I find the film and the case itself endlessly interesting. The lead to The 50 Million Dollar Question below:
How many times do I have to read about the fact that Teri Horton, the owner of a Jackson Pollock painting with disputed authenticity, only has an eighth grade education? She may not have finished school, but there’s no way you would know that if director Harry Moses hadn’t chosen to emphasize this bit of biographical information in his new documentary Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? (opening Wednesday at the IFC Center), a film about a retired truck driver who has dedicated the last 14 years of her life trying to get the presumed Jackson Pollock painting she bought for five dollars authenticated. It doesn’t help that virtually every writer in the country (barring dealer and blogger Edward Winkleman) is dutifully repeating the information as though it is of great relevance to a story that actually has less to do with class in America than it does with perhaps the biggest unwitting thrift store find in history.
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