BATON ROUGE, LA.- The Louisiana Art & Science Museum is presenting Harmonies in Color: Six Contemporary Perspectives, an exhibition featuring artwork by six nationally recognized artists devoted to the subject of color. The show opened on August 24 and run through March 1, 2020.
Organized by LASM, Harmonies in Color provides a glimpse into how artists are using color as more than simply a means to beautify their work. Included are paintings, photographs, and sculptures by renowned colorists Gabriele Evertz, Irene Mamiye, Pard Morrison, Robert Swain, and Sanford Wurmfeld, as well as a site-specific installation by Jen Pack. The exhibition includes references to major milestones in the scientific investigation of color, color themes and theories, and color as a subject of art. In their work, each of these artists address color, investigating its aesthetic, emotive, and optical qualities from their own perspectives.
“These highly accomplished artists are working with different aesthetic media and are pursuing the investigation of color from varied points of view, but all are united in their interest in the sensory experience of color,” said Elizabeth Weinstein, LASM’s Director of Interpretation & Chief Curator. “As humans, we rely heavily on visual imagery but are often unaware of the tremendous impact color has on us. In our daily lives, color influences what we choose to eat, what we purchase, and even how we feel. Color is a fascinating subject for artists, scientists, and our audience to explore.”
Painters Gabriele Evertz, Robert Swain, and Sanford Wurmfeld live and work in New York, and have been independently pursuing explorations of color as the subject of their art for decades through their painting practices and as writers, lecturers, and professors at Hunter College. They belong to the Hunter Color School, a group of artists who share a deep fascination with color and its transformative effect on viewers. Paintings by these artists can be found in museum collections of the British Museum in London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Irene Mamiye, who also resides in New York, views color through a digital lens; photography is her primary medium. Colorado artist Pard Morrison is known for his painterly sculptures, which are the result of a labor-intensive process of welding aluminum forms, then firing each color of enamel pigment separately. Instead of paint, New Mexico artist Jen Pack opts for colored thread or translucent fabric stretched over shaped frames to create vibrant three-dimensional constructions.
As part of Harmonies in Color, a variety of entertaining educational programs will be offered through March 1. In September, LASM visitors will be able to meet artist Jen Pack and watch her build a large-scale artwork out of multicolored threads. In addition to ongoing hands-on activities related to color for younger visitors, the Museum will premiere Cosmic Color: An Adventure Along the Spectrum in the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium, host tours and talks with artists and curators as part of Art After Hours evening programming, and organize monthly artist-led projects for families during Studio Saturdays.
“One of the unique qualities of LASM is that we focus on presenting art exhibitions that correlate and connect with science,” said Serena Pandos, President & Executive Director of LASM. “The synergies developing around Harmonies in Color, in conjunction with a concurrent color-themed planetarium show planned for the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium, exemplify this area of focus. Since this content is developed from the perspective of both art and science, our visitors have the opportunity to explore a richness of experience that could not be achieved by either discipline alone.”
