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1)   Kehinde Wiley

Shantavie Beale II

Color in this painting is an extremely dominant element of the piece. The colors are extremely saturated. The skin color of the figure is quite warm, and even though the background is mostly green, it feels warm as well. The light green of the leaves contrasts with the dark blue of the background and therefore moves forwards. You could say the colors in the painting are expressive because of how unrealistic they are.   

2)   John Baldessari

Pointing Hand, Desk, lights, and observers (Courtroom)

In this piece, Baldessari uses color to highlight certain things to the viewer. The bottom part of the piece is in black and white, yet certain things such as the lights, the hands and dots on faces are in color. In the top part he uses the shape to highlight certain parts of the photo. The orange and yellow are clearly the focal points at the bottom part as they are the only colors and therefore stand out. You could say this is black and white and 2 colors color harmony. 

3)   Cindy Sherman

Untitled

The colors in this photo are unsaturated and seem like they haven’t been manipulated in any way therefore they are realistic. The top background is light yellow, which contrasts well with the bottom dark purple, which are complementary colors. The background yellow is quite similar to the skin tone of the doll, which creates a flat surface. There are many different textures in the photo, the fabrics and the plastic doll textures contrast each other. I wish the background of the doll was darker so the doll would stand out more.

4)   Lorna Simpson

Jet #8

Color in this collage adds a significant meaning to the piece. I think colors here are culturally symbolic as they signify subjects about race. The images are black and white and Simpson added their hair with acrylic color, therefore making the color in each collage a focal point (black and white with one color). Using unnatural colors for their hair creates a whole different meaning to the hair and the people. The colors in this piece are obviously cool.

5)   Bill Viola

Dissolution

The colors in this piece are monochromatic; they are all in the shades of blue. There are no defined lines as the figures in the images are underwater. The water makes their skin tone and other features blue, which could be interpreted as expressive color presentation.

6)   Catherine Opie

Crenshaw High School Marching Band

The color of the green grass is the most dominant in this photograph and contrasts with the blackness of the sky, creating a sharp line at the vertical center. The blue and the green are saturated and stand out/ moves forward in the photo.  The white clothes and socks do not move forward as much because of the green, if the background was darker they would move forward. Since the blue and green are quite close in the color you can say the color combination here is analogous.

7)   Angelica Dass

This piece is another example of how the colors give the piece its meaning. The background colors here are a clear reference to the skin colors of the figures therefore the use of colors here is cultural. I think this piece would be considered as monochromatic, because there are mostly different shares of pink and brown. By having the same color of background as the subjects skin color, the figures don’t stand out as much as they would have if they were in front of a brighter/darker color, therefore they blend in with it, which I think again further demonstrates the significant meaning of the colors in the piece.

8)   Nan Golding

The colors in this image are obviously warm and expressive, as they set an atmosphere to the photo. Because of the warm lighting, the skin color of the figures look almost red. I think the warm colors strongly relate to the content of the photo that seems like an intimate moment Golding managed to capture.

9)   Gwynne Johnson

Revisions

In this series of photos, the artist captured the back of the heads of older men with the sky as the background. The color of the sky varies of each photo, but they all seem to be in the shades of light blue. In three of the four photos the color of their clothes seem to be darker than the background, which contrasts with the light blue color of the sky. the color of the figures hair seems to be light as well which blends therefore doesn’t stand out very much compared to the color of the sky. 

10)  Jani Leinonen

Enslaved and Free

The colors in this work clearly reference consumer products therefore making them culturally symbolic. The colors are saturated and vibrant, relating to the content of the piece, which is cereals boxes, and their need to be eye-catching for the consumer to buy them. This is another example how color is used to portray a specific meaning to the viewer.