Master Colorist Presentation

GDI104 COLOR
Andrew.conklin@tribecaflashpoint.edu
PRESENTATION—MASTER COLORIST
Objectives
Select research and present the work of a master colorist. Make a presentation using
Powerpoint.
Parameters
• 10-15 slide presentation in either PowerPoint or Keynote.
• Introduce the artist or designer whose use of color is unique or groundbreaking. The
main portion of your presentation should point out how color use by this master is
unique and captivating. Identify the color strategies of your subject.
• Provide a brief background of your subject. Provide examples of important works that
explain their color strategies. Isolate swatches or schemes from at least 3 examples of
the colorist’s work.
Deliverables
• Incorporate visuals along with their presentation.
• Students are evaluated by peers using a rubric.
• Rubric will be provided in advance of presentations.
Total Points Possible - 50
Selecting the Colorist
Research and choose an artist, designer, child’s book illustrator, comic artist, or design
team of noted reputation who uses color in a distinctive, deliberate and remarkable way.
Propose your subject to the instructor for feedback and a decision.
Aim to figure out the color strategies frequently used by the subject. What are their color
preferences and typical color schemes, and how they relate to the field in which they
worked.
To keep your presentation focused, consider a distinct part or stage of an artist’s work ,
perhaps a commission for a specific client, or a late phase of their career.
Below is a suggested outline. Aim to address each point, but keep the color use in
focus!
1. Brief background, biography or context of the artist/designer.
Your presentation is NOT to a biography — don’t spend much time on this.
2. Examples of Work
Display enough examples to demonstrate the color use. Show entire works and details.
works in more detail.
3. Description of Color Use
The main portion of your presentation .
What, if any colors does the artist return to repeatedly?
What, if any color schemes does the artist use repeatedly?
What about contrast and saturation use?

Yayoi Kusama

http://yayoi-kusama.jp/e/information/

https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/yayoi-kusama

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/arts/design/yayoi-kusama-david-zwirner-festival-of-life-review.html

https://www.artsy.net/artist/yayoi-kusama

I. Introduce the artist or designer whose use of color is unique or groundbreaking. The
main portion of your presentation should point out how color use by this master is
unique and captivating. Identify the color strategies of your subject.

Biography: http://yayoi-kusama.jp/e/biography/index.html

Name: Yayoi Kusama

Bio: Started to paint using polka dots and nets as motifs at around age ten ,and created fantastic paintings in watercolors, pastels and oils.

Unique: Went to the United States in 1957. Showed large paintings, soft sculptures, and environmental sculptures using mirrors and electric lights. In the latter 1960s, staged many happenings such as body painting festivals, fashion shows and anti-war demonstrations. Launched media-related activities such as film production and newspaper publication.

Strategy: Began to create open-air sculptures in 1994. Produced open-air pieces for the Fukuoka Kenko Center, the Fukuoka Municipal Museum of Art, the Bunka-mura on Benesse Island of Naoshima, Kirishima Open-Air Museum and Matsumoto City Museum of Art, , in front of Matsudai Station, Niigata,TGV's Lille-Europe Station in France, Beverly Gardens Park, Beverly hills, Pyeonghwa Park,
Anyang and a mural for the hallway at subway station in Lisbon.

Captivation: In 2004, Her solo exhibition “KUSAMATRIX" started at Mori Museum in Tokyo. This exhibition drew visitors totaling 520,000 people. In the same year, another solo exhibition started at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo In 2005, it traveled to The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto,
Matsumoto City Museum of Art.

II. Provide a brief background of your subject. Provide examples of important works that
explain their color strategies. Isolate swatches or schemes from at least 3 examples of
the colorist’s work.

History: Returned to Japan in 1973. While continuing to produce and show art works, Kusama issued a number of novels and anthologies. In 1983, the novel “The Hustlers Grotto of Christopher Street" won the Tenth Literary Award for New Writers from the monthly magazine Yasei Jidai.

Background: In 1986, held solo exhibitions at the Musee Municipal, Dole and the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Calais, France, in 1989, solo exhibitions at the Center for International Contemporary Arts, New York and the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England. In 1993, participated in the 45th Venice Biennale.

Began to show works mainly at galleries in New York in 1996. A solo show held in New York in the same year won the Best Gallery Show in 1995/96 and the Best Gallery Show in 1996/97 from the International Association of Art Critics in 1996.

From1998 to 1999, a major retrospective of Kusama's works which opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art traveled to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.

In 2000, Kusama won The Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize and Foreign-Minister's Commendations. Her solo exhibition that started at Le Consortium in France in the same year traveled to Maison de la culture du Japon, Paris, KUNSTHALLEN BRANDTS ÆDEFABRIK, Denmark, Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, KUNSTHALLE Wien, Art Sonje Center, Seoul.

III. Display enough examples to demonstrate the color use. Show entire works and details.
works in more detail.

Color Use (Examples): http://visualmelt.com/Yayoi-Kusama

Color:

Repetition:
Spread:

Perspective:

Blend:

Bleed:

Image:

Identity:

Design:

Pattern:

Persona:
Fabric:
Angle:

Point:

Cluster:

Form:

Shape:

Profile:

Identification:

Light:

Mold:

Object:

Contrast:

Subject:

Reflection:

Textile:

Alternate:

Acrylic:

Identification:

IV. Description of Color Use
The main portion of your presentation .
What, if any colors does the artist return to repeatedly?

- Yayoi Kusama uses mainly reds, yellows, blacks and white with small hints of blues, greens and cool shades of colors. Mostly, it seems that she uses warm colors blended with blacks and whites.

What, if any color schemes does the artist use repeatedly?

- Yayoi Kusama uses mainly polka dots, lights, patterns, clusters, repetition, reflection and perspective for the imagery of perspective, identity, persona and psyche as well as self-identification.

What about contrast and saturation use?

- The contrast is more in the shapes and colors that are used whilst the saturation leads more toward the brighter blends and coloration; Yayoi Kusama likes to use a multitude of different blob-like designs along with polka dots against lines and curves (as well as fabrics) to illustrate contrast both in self and in the works through various different materials, perspectives and placements.