PINK: the exposed color of contemporary art & culture

I was very excited to finally receive this book in the mail a few days back. I've been thinking a lot about the color pink and its uses in my own work, so I was thrilled to find this book on the subject. This thick pink velvety book is made up primarily of images of, what else... pink art. I was a little underwhelmed by the small amount of writing found inside which consisted of a few essays, some better than others. The over-arching theme is that of the color pink's various contradictions. Barbara Nemitz pretty much sums this idea up in her introductory paragraph saying...

"The qualities we associate with the pastel color pink are quite diverse. They range from sensitive, tender, youthful, artificial or unreal to eccentric, vulnerable, and pleasurable. The color is at home in both "high" and "low" culture... What is unique about pink is that it is assertive in whatever context it appears."

She goes on to discuss the color's rare significance in nature and its ever-presence in and on our physical bodies, which are composed of all things pink. She also discusses the ephemerality of the color. "Pink is fleeting," she says, referring not only to the short life-span of blossoms on plants, but also more visceral things, like the blush of our cheeks.

In my work I've been thinking a lot about the color pink and it's significance in relation to my concepts. I like to think the the color's contradictory nature contributes to what I'm doing in my work. I like to create biomorphic forms that appear to be from nature, but constuct them in a way that is highly fabricated and man-made. This idea is furthered by the materials I choose, which tend to be synthetic and manufactured, yet somehow evoking the natural environment.

Enough about me. Here are some of my favorite images from the book...

Francois Boucher

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Philip Guston

Christiane Haase

Christo & Jean Claude

Gelitin