Arty Farty Friday ~ Pollock

Jackson Pollock was born on
28 January 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. Pollock's art is very much an acquired taste. From biographical notes, and from the movie, Pollock, it appears that he was a veritable poster boy for zodiac sign Aquarius. His natal Uranus, modern ruler of Aquarius, is very close to his Aquarius Sun - just barely in Capricorn, in the last minutes of the sign, and his Sun is at 7.31 Aquarius. That's close enough to combine forces - Aquarius + Uranus = eccentricity rampant!

Pollock was never satisfied with the status quo, always trying for something different. I used to think of those later Pollock works, the paint splatter ones, as a cynical money-grabbing exercise. I changed my mind, after seeing one or two originals on visits to art galleries. There's a lot of skill involved, more than one might initially appreciate. These pieces have a regular "rhythm", yet Pollock danced around his canvas on the floor, slinging paint hither and thither in seemingly random fashion; even so, the finished product looks somehow planned, the colour distribution, the clever choices and mixes of colours. An example:

 Full Fathom Five

Jackson Pollock and Ed Harris: an actor/director, and a maverick artist born a generation plus a couple of months apart: the actor/director, Ed Harris born 28 Nov 1950, in Englewood, New Jersey.

Ed Harris starred in and directed the 2000 movie "Pollock". Harris's father once bought his son a book about Jackson Pollock. He felt that Ed bore a strong resemblance to the painter. That book no doubt kick-started the actor's apparent fascination with the artist.

It seems logical that the actor/director would need a deep understanding of the real-life character he portrays, and that somewhere in the natal charts of the two men there would be a link. There are several. The inner chart is Pollock's; chart placements in the outer circle are Ed Harris's.

I can find no time of birth for Pollock, though a rectified time is suggested at Astrodatabank - 12.06pm (26 Taurus). Astrodatabank gives 5.32am (17 Scorpio) for Ed Harris. I'm not including ascendants here, just comparing planetary positions.

I think Ed Harris's natal chart indicates a kinder and warmer character than Jackson Pollock seems to have been. Still, there ought to be some link which enabled Harris to give such an outstanding portrayal of the artist on screen. The actor seemed to understand Pollock's oddball nature very well.

Pollock said several times that he couldn't separate himself from his art. Not knowing much about his art when I began to read about him, it was more his persona, his struggles as a human being, that were interesting to me.
(Ed Harris).

Harris's Mars and Pollock's Mercury are both at 16 Capricorn.

Pollock's natal Venus lies at 9 Sagittarius. Ed Harris's natal Jupiter at 9 Sagittarius.

Ed Harris's natal Venus is at 28 Sagittarius Jackson Pollock's Jupiter at 29 Aquarius- in harmonious sextile aspect.

Their natal Suns are at 7 Aquarius and 5 Sagittarius- also sextile.

Harris's natal Moon at 17 Cancer is close enough to be termed conjoined to Pollock's natal Neptune at 21 Cancer. The Cancer/Capricorn opposition in Pollock's chart, Mercury/Neptune is echoed in Harris's by Moon/Mars.

These connections must surely have significance. The "feel" of a connection is there, without resorting to individual interpretation of the links.

Astrology is stranger than we realise - stranger even than Jackson Pollock!