Colorfield Intermix at Artomatic

This month, over 30 Washington area museums and galleries are mounting exhibitions celebrating the continuing influence of the Color Field school of painters, the only “official” art movement that originated in the Washington area. Like many such official movements, it exists primarily in retrospective - the artists did not consider themselves a group, but their work does show the same urge to explore
how intense color can convey emotional content. In the 1950’s and 60’s, artists such as Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis, Gene Davis and Helen Frankenthaler painted in this way.

Some of the Color Field painters were hard-edged abstractionists, some used flowing pours of paint on canvas; the characteristic that unites the work is that it is “immersed in color”- a phrase used by the Museum of American Art to describe the school. With that sense of the tradition, local artist Ellyn Weiss has created “Colorfield Intermix at Artomatic”, a “tour” of Artomatic 2007 that notes a dozen artists who, in her opinion, make work that is immersed in color.

One major difference between the 1950’s and 2007 is the broader range of media routinely used by artists. The 2007 work includes, in addition to painting, photography, encaustic (wax) and collaged elements. The common thread of the work is how it uses intense and seductive color to create an emotional response that pulls the viewer into the painting.

The artists and the Artomatic rooms in which their work is displayed are arranged below in a way that can take you through the show. (Disclaimer: These choices reflect the sole and no doubt arbitrary judgment of Ellyn Weiss. In the spirit of Artomatic, please feel free to email your choices, quibbles, comments to eweiss@ucsusa.org)

Sondra Arkin red 6A03

Ellyn Weiss red 6A03

Pat Gerkin red 6R11

Melissa Hackmann red 6C02

Tory Cowles red 6C08

Catherine Carter blue 6C43

Mark Poss blue 6C43

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard blue 6Y11

Donna Grossman blue 6B31

Susan Finsen yellow 6A33

Jan Sherfy green 8D5

Felisa Federman orange 8D14