An Irruption of the Rainbow: Color in 20th-Century Art
An Irruption of the Rainbow: Color in 20th-Century Art
An Irruption of the Rainbow: Color in 20th-Century Art looks at various ways that modern artists have used color in their work. Artists began to experiment with color in the late 19th century, employing it not only descriptively but also scientifically, politically, formally, and to stimulate the senses. Paul Signac declared his allegiance to color theory, while Wassily Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstraction, played with synesthesia. The Russian avant-garde artists El Lissitzky and Pyotr Konchalovsky used color polemically in the 1920s, as did Sister Mary Corita Kent some half century later. Henri Matisse, one of the greatest masters of color, used pared-down colored shapes to explore notions of figure and ground, presence and void. Photographer William Eggleston found heightened color in everyday situations, while contemporary artists Polly Apfelbaum and Ginny Bishton bring together ordinary materials and bold color to create vibrant works of art. This exhibition, drawn from LACMA’s collection, also includes works by Sonia Delaunay, Kazimir Malevich, Morris Louis, John McLaughlin, and Ellsworth Kelly.
This installation was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Image: Ginny Bishton, Walking 1, 1998, photo collage on paper, 17 x 18 1/2 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council, 1998 Art Here and Now Purchase, © Ginny Bishton, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
- Dec 17, 2016–Jul 23, 2017
- Ahmanson Building, Level 2
This installation was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Image: Ginny Bishton, Walking 1, 1998, photo collage on paper, 17 x 18 1/2 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council, 1998 Art Here and Now Purchase, © Ginny Bishton, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Media
Polly Apfelbaum's piece Black Flag uses hundreds of pieces of hand-dyed velvet that she arranges in this site-specific installation. In this video, the artist shares her thoughts on this work she originally created in 2002.