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Josef Albers

I-SF: SK-ED

Jose Alvarez (D.O.P.A)

Forever Radiant

Charles Demuth

Wild Orchids

Ana Maria Hernando

Flor Nube I (Cloud Flower I)

Judy Pfaff

The Bagh

Jason Pollen

13 Bands

Betty Woodman

Vases and Windows IV-03

Organized from the Kemper Museum Permanent Collection, the exhibition Chromophobia borrows its title from a book of the same name by artist and writer David Batchelor (Scottish, born 1955). In his formative publication, Batchelor describes chromophobia as “a fear of contamination and corruption by something that is unknown or appears unknowable.” As such, there is a desire to “purge color from culture, to devalue color, to diminish its significance, to deny its complexity.” According to Batchelor, this anxiety is induced by what color supposedly signifies in wider Western philosophy and criticism: the so-called “feminine, oriental, cosmetic, infantile, vulgar, narcotic.”

The works chosen for this exhibition extend Batchelor’s conversation into the Kemper Museum Meeting Room, transforming the gallery into a space where color becomes the primary and celebrated force. With selections dating from 1920 to 2010, Chromophobia incorporates perspectives from various eras and artistic movements, foregrounding the artists’ differing approaches to color application and experimentation. One such example is a print by the late artist and teacher Josef Albers (American, born Germany, 1888–1976), who is most known for his playful series Homage to the Square and celebrated publication Interaction of Color (1963), both of which have influenced countless creatives and cultural producers. 

In bringing color from the margin to the center, Chromophobia chooses to embrace color expression–and all of its associations–as a liberatory practice rather than a superfluous or dangerous element of artistic production.

Chromophobia is organized by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Krista Alba, assistant curator.

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Chromophobia

Charles Demuth, American, 1883-1935, Wild Orchids, ca. 1920, watercolor on paper, 10⅞ x 8½ inches. Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 1995.024.01. No known copyright restrictions. Photo: Dan Wayne.