ABOUT THE ARTIST Bold, eye-popping colors and repetitive shapes (like stripes and targets) characterize contemporary New York-based artist Polly Apfelbaum s work (American, b. 1955). Apfelbaum uses vibrant hand-dyed fabrics and textiles creating works that resemble paintings and painting styles (bold lines, translucent washes, vibrant color) from the Washington Color School from the 1950s to the 1970s. Today, Apfelbaum continues to innovate these styles with her craft-based choice of materials such as rugs, ceramics, and textiles by and arranging them in abstract patterns. By using both the walls and the floor to exhibit her work, the viewer becomes immersed in color and shape, experiencing art as if stepping into what Apfelbaum refers to as fallen painting.
ACTIVITIES Abstract Adventure Ask your students what they expect to see during their upcoming visit to Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Anticipate hearing responses like: lots of art, big rooms, other visitors, museum guards, etc. Encourage your students to be more specific about the artwork they will see by asking: What types of materials might you see artists having used in works at Kemper Museum? (paint, pencil or oil pastels, ceramic or metal, fiber, wood, etc.) How do you think the art will be displayed? (framed, hanging directly on the wall, on a pedestal or platform, on a monitor, etc.) What type of images (genres) will you see? (portraits, landscapes, still-life, installation, video, etc.) What size (scale) are artists working in? (large, small, medium, tiny, massive, etc.) Invite your students to imagine having the ability to walk into a colorful work of art (an immersive installation). Perhaps use an example of a colorful abstract work like Mildred Thompson s Magnetic Fields (1991), available online at: https://www.kemperart.org/exhibitions/magnetic-fields-expanding-americanabstraction-1960s-today) As students use their imagination to step into a work like Magnetic Fields, ask them what they might see above, below, and around them (three-dimensional experience). Encourage students to imagine this abstract adventure using all of their senses. How might the paint smell or how would the color influence smell? How might the color of the work reflect onto their clothing? What might the grooves of the thickly applied paint feel like on the surface of the canvas? This activity builds anticipation and thinking skills that can be used when experiencing the artwork of Polly Apfelbaum. She uses the floor, ceiling, and walls to show her work and surround the viewer. It is as if you might be walking right into a painting.
Color Associations Polly Apfelbaum enjoys experimenting with bold colors and fabric dyes. Sometimes colors can have multiple meanings and can communicate feelings or ideas. When we think of a person, place, thing, or memory, we may associate it with a color(s). For example, think about a birthday party. What color(s) come to mind? What colors come to mind when thinking of a cold winter day? Colors can also be linked to feelings and emotions. For example, yellow is often associated with happiness. Using the color wheel, label each color with your own emotion or feeling. Extend the Lesson: Did you know that every color has a unique history throughout time and in different places throughout the world? For instance, the color purple may be associated with power and royalty. For a long time in Japan, ordinary people were forbidden to wear purple clothes! Research the history behind your favorite color and learn how perspectives change over time and are unique to geographic locations. Pop Culture Connections Apfelbaum is often inspired by and incorporates references to pop culture into her work and in the titles of her artwork. Pop or popular culture, includes products, ideas, and images that the general public is familiar with, widely circulated by media and culture. Pop culture can include songs, food labels, film, video games, or advertisements and can tell us a lot about what generation these references are from. Apfelbaum sometimes borrows certain elements from pop culture and abstracts them in her work (see below). In the 1990s, Apfelbaum transformed and abstracted the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) and the circular shapes found on Wonder Bread packaging into a fallen painting (a painting off the wall and onto the floor). She further complicated the patterning and definition of painting by using crushed synthetic velvet as her medium (the materials used to make the work).
Left: Wonder Bread packaging Right: Polly Apfelbaum, Wonder bread, 1993, crushed synthetic velvet, fabric dye, 157 x 146 inches Find an image of the wrapper or packaging of your favorite candy. Imagine if you multiplied it, flipped it around, stitched it together, put it on the floor, or covered a room like wallpaper. How would this change, enhance, or illuminate the color and image? Here is an example: Colors: pink, red, yellow, blue Shapes: ovals, crown, swish mark Using only the colors and shapes you identified in your wrapper/packaging, transform your pop culture object. You can draw your fallen painting on paper, use fabric scraps, or other textile material like Apfelbaum uses, or even animate the imagery as a film. Extend the Lesson: Apply the ideas of color theory to your fallen painting. Where do the colors fall on the color wheel? Are they complimentary or analogous? Are they warm or cool colors? How does color saturation make a difference in product packaging?
DEEPER UNDERSTANDING AND HELPFUL RESOURCES Elements of Art: Color by KQED Arts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=www_ubrkbew Color Theory Basics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ck9be3h_s Is Your Red the Same as My Red? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evqsofqju08 How Do We See Color? From Frontiers for Young Minds https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2013.00010 JUST FOR FUN: Color Illusions from Brain Den http://brainden.com/color-illusions.htm How to Use Paper Clips to Draw a Perfect Circle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nuysdp1sci KEY TERMS Abstraction: when an artist removes objects from an original image or form and simplifies them; many times, the artist has the real object in mind when creating their version of the artwork (please note that this is not the same thing as abstract art) Analogous colors: colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel Ceramics: art or objects made with clay and hardened by heat Color Temperatures: warm (reds, oranges, yellows) or cool (purples, blues, and greens); opposite temperatures create visual contrast and can have psychological/ emotional effect
Complimentary colors: colors that sit across from each other on the color wheel (red and green; purple and yellow; orange and blue) Hue: the name of a color, like red, blue, yellow, green Immersive: something that surrounds an audience or individual so that they feel involved in it Innovate: to make changes in something traditional with a new form, idea, or technique Monochromatic: using one hue and adding white, black, or grey Saturation: the intensity or purity of a hue (can be high or low) Shade: a hue produced by adding black Site-specific installation: artwork created or responding to a specific place Textile: a type of cloth, weaving, or fabric Texture: the feel or appearance of a surface Tint: a hue produced by adding white Tone: a hue produced by adding grey Value: the degree of lightness or darkness of a hue I am a person who is in between painting and sculpture. Polly Apfelbaum