Essentials of Light :: Pure Color

It is high summer and my eyes are filled with all manner of blue and green, but it is to Orange I am drawn. From Tilman's very personal grasp for the potential of color as light and form to Joanne Mattera's iridescent geometric surfaces described as 'lush minimalism', the aesthetics of these artists challenge, stimulate, move and satisfy.


Tilman : Expander with Urban Structure 2, The House of Art Ceske Budejovice (CZ), 2008




Rose Olson: Double Orange Left, Acrylic on Paper, 41 x 26 inches , 2005



Julian Jackson: Interior with Orange, Oil on Panel, 36 x 38 inches



John Tallman : Ssamzie Shape , mixed media , 7 x 6 inches, 2004




Joanne Mattera : Silk Road 99, Encaustic on panel, 12 x 12 inches, 2008



Rossanna Martinez : Crash Into Me, Fluorescent orange and hot pink ribbons,
Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, NY, 2007



Steven Alexander : Sage, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, 2006


Jeff Kellar: Fold 16, Resin, Clay, Wood , 7 x 7 x 4.5, 2007



Julie Gross : #115, Gouache on Paper, 16 x 16 inches, 2008 , Courtesy of Kenise Barnes Fine Art


Following is an excerpt from a conversation between Chris Ashley and Tilman,
Tilman, by Chris Ashley
MINUS SPACE, June-August 2006 :

CA: The color is material, first. It could be the natural color of the material, or painted, or printed, or the color is applied in some way. It’s a property of the object. Of course, color is made possible by light, but how does the color move from being a physical thing to being simply light?

T: In early Greek philosophy, light is described as the fourth element, the ether; they called it Olkas, a carrier which holds all together. That’s what I am trying to say with simply light, making a reference to this thought. So color, yes, as a material it becomes a carrier of thought, something essential, so to say.



And finally, as August steamrolls past us, Julie Gross sums it up:

"...Orange...the warmest color in the spectrum...so to use it, despite its warmth, is less assertive, more moderate than red, and more weighty & more serious than yellow..."



:: Happy Summer Days ::