Up until the mid-twentieth century, artists were at pains to conceal or control the brushstroke. Paint was not a subject, it was the vessel for an idea – feathered to evoke light in impressionism, made silken in the Renaissance and utilised to distort perception in cubism. That was until Ukrainian artist Janet Sobel and American artist Jackson Pollock set about liberating the drip. 

The great contribution made to art history by abstract expressionism was the freeing of the drip. Pollock produced “action paintings” – spontaneously slashing, swiping and dripping paint onto his canvas to produce frenetic, energetic and totally abstract paintings. The drip was not a side-effect but the point, the traces left by a performative creative act. 

Jasper Knight 'Yellow and Grey Suspension Bridge’

To diverse ends, the drip remains a key strategy in contemporary art. Jasper Knight revels in the drip, painting emblems of industry in oozing technicolour excess. Adam Cullen too employs the drip, using it to inject energy into his imagery. The animalistic urgency present in human activity is revealed through Cullen's eye – a jockey drips indigo, their restless horse underneath.

Adam Cullen ‘Derby’

In ‘Chasing Shadows’, Philippe Le Miere fuses the work of John Brack and Charles Blackman, their iconic representations dripping paint. Under his hand, the two artists’ legacies bleed over time and interpretation, leaving an indelible trace.

Philippe Le Miere 'Chasing Shadows'

In retaining the drip in their work, artists relinquish control. As Pollock once reflected, “I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image… because the painting has a life of its own.” Viva la drip!