COLOUR ME BLUE

Curator's Note

Blue is the tender soul

Of sky  flower and ocean

And the blessing and bane

Of me and you

 

Ode to Blue by David Whalen

 

Colors have a great significance in our life and sometimes it is more important than we realize. It is hard to imagine a life without color. Color communicates a lot and has the power to convey moods and feelings. Have you never really noticed much of an emotional difference between different colors 

Should we need to talk about any specific color, blue comes straight to our mind as we look above in the sky and see the myriad hues of color blue. It has a tremendous soothing nature and many psychological effects. Blue can have a variety of meanings and symbolize a diverse range of ideals depending upon a culture’s beliefs. Meaning and significance of the color also vary depending on a person’s perception, sensitivity and feelings. We are keen to question here the resonance you get through the color blue. What does it mean to you and how does it impact you?

Blue is a color often found in nature which can range from the pale blue of a daytime sky or the rich dark blue of a deep pool of water. While blue invoke images of sky and sea, it is also the color of bravery and dedication. Blue represents introspective journeys and symbolizes wisdom and depth of understanding. It is for this reason perhaps that people often describe the color blue as calm and serene. Yet as a cool color, blue can sometimes seem icy, distant, or even cold. Over the course of art history, artists of all media have utilized the multitude of unique shades of blue as a means of expression. Pablo Picasso himself underwent a Blue period where all his paintings were created in shades of blue and blue-green to create a subdued, melancholic atmosphere.

 Through this exhibition, we tend to enquire how differently the colour blue relates to your psyche and our introspective journeys? How contemporary artists are using it to break the prevailing norms and beliefs related to it We also explore our understanding of the color blue, at least as it relates to art. Would you describe it as something different than what you feel when you hear the word blue, or read the word blue on a page? Is the information communicated by a hue different from the information communicated by its name? Whatever you feel, is it possible that feeling is universal? Or does the color blue mean different things to different people? And what about animals? Do they associate color with emotion, or do they use their color receptors only for survival? These questions have mystified students of color for centuries, and in some ways, we are no closer to answering them today than we were a hundred years ago. Taking this as an inquiry and hope it will shine new light on the innumerable ways the colour categories have been used by artists throughout history, it also explores the range of ways the color intersects with science, emotion, aesthetics and other areas of human culture. We wish and urge to take a deeper look at it through some unique and creative idioms of some promising & established contemporary artists of India.

 Text credit: Pranamita Borgohain