COLOR BIND
Colour
Bind at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is an exhibition that looks at
how the colours black and white are used in contemporary art both formally and
politically. Openly an exhibition that does not discuss black and white
photography explicitly, despite the title prompting it, the exhibition looks specifically
at formal considerations are often rooted in social issues which giver perhaps
a fresh approach to looking at photography.
Barbara
Kruger’s Untitled (We construct the chorus
of missing persons), 1983, particularly stood out to me in this exhibition
revolving around colour. Admittedly, the exhibition is riddled with colour,
nonetheless, there is no denying the fact that the bold red frame of Kruger’s
piece was unique in the punch that it’s alterior colour produced. The piece consists
of a black and white photograph with text that is split into three sections that
are placed back together having been framed in bright red frames. These colour
choices are evidence of Kruger’s ongoing dialogue on advertizing. Red being an
infamously attention grabbing colour. Kruger’s art frequently calls attention
to the imbalance of power relations, especially between men and women. This can
be seen in this example since the individual’s identity is hidden from view and
the person is chopped into fragmentary parts. The choice of plack and white for
the portrait of the woman also reduced the likelikhood of being able to
identify due to the fact it makes features e.g. haircolour unreadable. The person
could stand for almost anyone.
Another
work I found particularly interesting in regards to colour was owardena
Pindell’s collage Rambo Real Estate:
Homelessness that poignantly comments on social and economic challenges.
This work that consits of a collage that was originally made of text-black font
on white paper- however, the paper has aged to become a rich yellow colour.
This exposes the vulnerability of the artwork and adds to the notion of
nostalgia brought up by the childlike ‘home’ shape of the collage itself. It
also questions the notion of things being ‘set in black and white”. Whilst so
often tarnished paper with black text could still be read as the traditional
“written in black and white” in relation to the stark white walls of the
gallery space the paper’s true colour is exposed and placed in a position for
critique.
Silmilarly
the piece Untitled, 2001, by Gary
Simmons addressses through formal means the social implications of the white
cube space. The piece is a sculpture made up of various objects piled together,
all painted white cube white. All that is, apart from the yellowish wooden
table that supports all that is towered ontop of it. Whilst all the objects
merge and fit into the aesthetic of the gallery. The table stands out as
foreign. To me the colour relativity warms the object, making it sing of the
home and everything the gallery is not in that sense.
