Very Peri, a periwinkle blue with violet-red undertones was named the color of the year for 2022. So, it is very fitting to have seen the “blue.” exhibition as our virtual field trip. The color blue has different meanings and it can represent things, it’s also a commonly chosen favorite color.
The virtual field trip, although kind of fast, was enjoyable. It would be great to be able to see an exhibition dealing with color in the future. I got to learn about the chronology of blue so that was a plus! Some artists/pieces that I enjoyed were Antonio Santin, Cao Jun, and Yves Klein. They incorporated different techniques that mesmerized me. For example, Antonio Santin’s ‘Toast to Ashes’ is an oil on canvas, but it looks like a 3D illusion. It looks like an actual rugged carpet which surprised me because I thought it was actual material and not a painting. The shading and contrast make the ruggedness stand out as a texture.
Cao Jun is a Chinese artist from New York and his piece “Poetic Water” stood out to me as well because it felt like I was watching ocean waves clashing against each other from an aerial view. The different shades of blue from light to dark add movement to the harshness of each layer. From a different perspective, it also looks like a splash of watercolors, too. Finally, Yves Klein’s Venus Bleue was very bright and it stood out because it was set in a room filled with white and open space. The blue is very dark and the sculpture looks like a mannequin; commercialized.
