Similar but Different #23: “Pure” White
While researching for work I’m currently making in the studio I’ve become obsessed with white and its false reputation of purity. Here are just a few token examples of white lifting it’s dust ruffle to show us a little dirt. (And Yes, I’ve intentionally left Ryman out…)
Gedi Sibony’s TBC, 2010. Wood, paint.
Terence Koh next to a 45-ton mound of rock salt during his performance/installation nothingtoodooterencekoh.
I was on a selection committee for a residency program when I first saw this work. So weird and wonderful I’m excited to see what comes next. Above is Tarrah Krajnak’s They don’t love you like I love you. (Heart Abortion). 2010.
The ice palace in Dr Zhivago, filmed in Spain the snow was made of white marble dust.
http://youtu.be/w3ysuG2O0zw
Kayde Anobile‘s Portrait of a Creature.
Ida Florence, the California Prize Beauty, 1890.
Cy Twombly’s Untitled sculpture from 1959.
Katrina Moorhead’s An Island as It Might Be. 2005 at Artpace.
also by Margaret Meehan
- Yayoi Kusama: Princess of the Polka Dots - July 19th, 2012
- Seventeen Hundred Seeds: Cultivating Community As Art - June 2nd, 2012
- Similar but Different #29: The Rainbow Connection - May 23rd, 2012
- Mirror Mirror #7: HOMECOMING! Committee - May 14th, 2012
- Performance Here, There and on the Internets - April 28th, 2012
Wish Michael Tracey’s 1976 sugar work had been included. Same look as Terence Kho’s 45-ton salt installation.
Anxious to see your completed research.
Have made numerous white-on-white paintings over the years, principally using as many different manufactures of “white” in
oil, tempera, vinyls, acrylics, lacquers and enamels as were on
the market at the time. Many obviously have changed, and not
just to yellow.
Dear Margaret,
Love the theme of white. Check out contemporary Irish artist at alicemaher.com
Her work Mnemosyne, under installation tag, is a bed made from refridgeration coils that when turned on collects frost and turns entirely white. Its inspiration is from a victorian painting of sick girl dressed in white on a bed.
Sheila