David Batchelor - Chromaphobia And How To Recognize It

David Batchelor is an artist and writer on contemporary art who has increasingly focused his studio work and writing around colour: how it is used in art and design; how it is written and spoken about; how it is valued and, not least, how it is often despised. In this lecture he discusses these and other perceptions of colour. An exhibition of his 3-D work Polymonochromes was held at the Henry Moore Institute in 1997 and his series of works Monochromobiles was on display at the Economist Building in London in early 1998. David Batchelor is senior tutor in Critical Theory at the Royal College of Art, London. He is a regular contributor to art journals and his publications include Minmalism and Chromaphobia.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzap6ErZ9fc



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FlEEKiFXOU

HENI Talks

Published on Apr 26, 2018

SUBSCRIBE 1.2K

‘Oh, hang on, where’s the colour?’ It took a while for artist David Batchelor to notice that much of his work lacked colour. It happened in the studio, when, in frustration whilst trying to distinguish the front of the work from the back, he painted the face of it a vibrant pink. This epiphany lead Batchelor to investigate the presence of ‘Chromophobia’ through Western cultural thought. He suggests colour has often been cast as a dangerous element – as the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, and the cosmetic. In this film, he traces the fear through 19th century Academic painting through to minimalism, Pop and conceptual art and popular TV and cinema. He also discusses the beguiling relationship between the ‘Luminous and the Grey’, and why grey, contrary to popular thought, is a surprisingly interesting colour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrOAKvfJ_c