let there be COLOR

COLOR CHART Reinventing Color: 1950 to today: An exhibition mounted by MoMA in 2008, and sponsored in part by (who else?) Benjamin Moore Paints. From the introduction written by Ann Temkin:

‘This exhibition takes as its point of departure the commercial color chart, an item that openly declares the status of color as mass-produced and standardized. Midway through the 20th century, long-held convictions regarding the spiritual or emotional power of particular colors gave way to the embrace of color as an ordinary commodity. At the same time, many artists rejected traditional artistic pedagogy about correct relationships between colors and instead adopted aesthetic approaches that relied on chance, ready-made sources, or arbitrary systems. The Romantic quest for personal expression, so often achieved through color, instead became Andy Warhol’s “I want to be a machine.” The artistry of mixing pigments was eclipsed by Frank Stella’s “Straight out of the can; it can’t get better than that.”'

here is the official (beautifully built) site hosted by the MoMa

below are images of dan flavin for louis vuitton: