»Color as Program«

With the exhibition Color as Program, the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn constructs a historical outline of colors and their high symbolic and effective power. Color is political, it marks cultural-historical milestones and works in terms of the psychology of perception: »Color in this exhibition is always a carrier of ideas. Color is and is not what it appears to be. Color is a vehicle to express contradiction and subjectivity,« says artist and co-curator Liam Gillick. 

From 8 April, the exhibition house will be looking at over 40 top-class artists as if through a kaleidoscope. Beginning with early color photography, the event strings together different periods of contemporary history to ultimately end up with the full significance of today. It captures seminal moments such as the inauguration of color television by Vice-Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1967 and brings out interpretive possibilities of color use in political spectrums. One example is the artist Thu-Van Tran (*1979), who uses the color coding of Rainbow Herbicides used by the US military in the Vietnam War. Luminaries such as Helen Frankenthaler or Rudolf Steiner accentuate Color as Program with their expressive or anthroposophical approaches. Another highlight is the expansive architecture designed especially for the Great Hall by Liam Gillick. The Bundeskunsthalle has deliberately staged the tour through the exhibition freely and without instructions in order to encourage an associative approach. The show ends on 7 August.