The School of the Arts at Indiana University Northwest has launched its first exhibition of the academic year: Albers and the Tanning Salon: An Exhibition about Color.
Showing in the School of the Arts Gallery of the Arts and Sciences Building, Albers and the Tanning Salon, is at first glance a collection of playful, monochromatic sculptures with clean lines by Puerto Rican artist Josué Pellot.
The title of the show is a reference to Josef Alber’s famous art theory text, the 1963 The Interaction of Color. Albers believed that color was a relative medium and the perception of colors is dependent on what the viewer has seen before.
Pellot’s exhibition highlights the importance of the subtle differences between tones and explores Alber’s theory that “color has everything to do with the relationship between colors.”
For Pellot, the components in the show are a way to contemplate the complex dynamics of skin tone, as well.
“My work reinforces the idea that our conception of color, even as it applies to people, is inextricable from the environment that surrounds it,” Pellot said. “And by seeing abstracted imagery of beaches … and the aesthetics of tanning salons … the viewer is prompted to understand colors as a result of viewing them in proximity to one another.”
IU Northwest campus is home to two art galleries:
The School of the Arts Gallery is located in the Arts and Sciences Building (2nd Floor) at 3415 Broadway Gary, Indiana, and the Gallery for Contemporary Art is located in the Savannah Center at 65 W. 33rd Ave., Gary, Indiana.
Both galleries’ viewing hours are Monday through Thursday from 12-5 p.m.
For more information, email iunsoa@iu.edu.
Albers and the Tanning Salon will run now through Sept. 26. The School of the Arts will hold extended viewing hours Sept. 21 and will host an artist talk and reception at 4 p.m. on Sept. 16.