Museum welcomes local artists to look deeper into their colors
CHICO » Since June, artwork on display at the Museum of Northern California has paid homage to the museum’s original colors: red, yellow and blue. While the fifth birthday of the organization prompted the colors to be revisited, on Sunday, local artists interpreted what the three primary colors meant to them.
The Red Yellow Blue exhibit started on Saturday, June 18.. Susan Fuller, an artist based in Chico, created a glass artwork that utilized all three colors to fit the exhibition theme.
“I thought red, yellow and blue — those are the primary colors but those are the building blocks for other colors and that’s where my process started from,” said Fuller.
Travis Taylor associates most of art as abstract paintings with vibrant colors. Rarely would he think about what colors he would use, Taylor said.
“I think what was really neat about this show is that it kind of forced us to ask ourselves whether it was going to be red, yellow or blue,” said Travis Taylor. “You can’t make your work without those three foundational colors. Nothing breaks down to make those. It kind of forces you to take a step back.”
Gwen Nelson, who moved to Chico after living in South Dakota, contributed a piece titled, “Yellow Brick Road,” which sported mostly yellow.
“I moved here from South Dakota,” said Nelson. “We have 69 more days of sunshine here and so for me yellow means flowers, sunshine, fun. I knew that was what I wanted to have mostly, but I also know that yellow means a lot of other things — wisdom, knowledge, it means you’re a coward. I thought about all of those emotions. They’re all yellow.”
For some artists, finding what worked for them was a struggle. Despite her love for yellow, Rosario Clerici-Green could not make a peice that she liked with the color, so she decided to use blue instead.
“I think that’s one of the important aspects of being an artist,” said Taylor. “Sometimes in your mind you have something that you want to do but as she said, it might not feel right. But she ended with something that did feel right.”
Pieces from the Red Yellow Blue exhibition will continue to be on display at the museum until Aug. 21.
“I have to say that this has been one of the strongest shows we’ve ever had,” said monca Executive Director Pat Macias. “When the exhibition committee created the celebrating red yellow and blue exhibition, we could not have imagined the strength of the work.”