Extended through April 10, 2020
Sun and sunflowers, daffodils and egg yolks, canaries and bees, taxis and butter, corn and squash, bananas and lemons. When yellow comes to mind, so do these objects of everyday life, which represent freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, and optimism. A duller, browner yellow, however, can bring to mind caution and sickness, cowardice and deceit. With all hues of yellow at their beck and call, the artists of Kolman & Pryor Gallery present the next exhibit in the gallery’s popular program: The Color Series. This year, the series showcases the color, Yellow. The exhibition opens January 11 and runs through April 10, 2020, with an artist reception on Saturday, February 8, 2020, 7 – 9 p.m.
All of the Kolman & Pryor gallery artists will have work in the show, including Kelly Jean Ohl. Her ceramic pieces—small abstract objects with textures that reference biological entities, intricate lace or otherworldly patterning—will be mounted on a yellow wall. “This will be the first time we’ve painted one of the gallery walls a color other than white,” says Patrick Pryor, curator, and co-founder of the gallery. “Kelly Jean said she’d participate ‘if you painted the wall yellow,’ so we are creating a new environment that her work will occupy.”
Abstract encaustic painter Julie Snidle “has already sent us her pieces, as yellow is already in her wheelhouse with the color palette she uses,” Pryor says. He anticipates that Kate Casanova, as a sculptor, will be quite inventive with the use of yellow in her biomorphic forms. Pryor is partial to Indian Yellow Hue, believed to have originated in India during the 15th century, specifically in Monghyr, a city in Bihar state in northeastern India.
“Yellow figures prominently in the work of Van Gogh, Mondrian and Twombly, but it’s not terribly common,” he says. “Our gallery artists are excited about bringing this color into their work and embracing whatever challenges it might bring to their aesthetic and practice.”
Kolman & Pryor’s Color Series has been highly successful, bringing new visitors and art collectors into the gallery. The Color Series: Part 1, White introduced the series in 2018. The Color Series: Part 2, Red continued the series in 2019. “In January, we really need a shot of color,” says Anita Sue Kolman, gallery co-founder. “Yellow is most commonly thought of as a vibrant, uplifting color. It’s also easily found in natural pigments and has been incorporated into art since prehistoric humans created cave paintings. We anticipate that visitors and collectors will find this exhibition elevating and engaging, and the perfect way to showcase the work of our gallery artists during the cold winter months.”