Review: Significant Colour @ Aram Gallery

Tone, shade, texture, saturation, substance, value: these are just a few of the things that ‘Significant Colour’ asks you to think about in relation to colour. This is a relatively easy task as, upon arrival, you must first walk through several floors of the Aram Store, a homey, loft-like setting that houses a collection of bold, bright and modern home design. When ascending to the top floor’s Aram Gallery, a bright, airy space, is further enhanced by the unique and vibrant pieces on show all exploring colour.

Instantly catching one’s eye are textile artist Ptolemy Mann’s free-standing monoliths, made of hand dyed and woven cotton stretched over wood, focusing on scale and the gradual transition in colour. In contrast, neighbouring Sophie Smallhorn’s three dimensional colour wheel emphasises the never-ending spectrum whilst Mah Rana’s ‘Permanent Red’ studies the more finite sense of colour with an example of red pigment, the nasty stuff that lingers long after many scrubs!

Christian Zuzunaga’s textile panels evoke emotion and sensuality and urge the observer to get swept up in its dream-like aesthetic qualities. In a more practical way, El Ultimo Grito’s moon-like light fixture comes complete with three different coloured light bulbs (who needs IKEA?!) For the more corporate minded, both drMM’s depiction of colour in urban London landscapes and Sauerbrach Hutton’s colour scheme at Sheffield University provide examples of how colour can merge with business helping to distract from the mundane.

Significant Colour challenges us to ponder why certain colours are chosen, and the effects they have on our day to day lives. The visual experience is definitely worth the trip up the stairs.

By Tiffany Pritchard

Significant Colour is at Aram Gallery until 27 June