Morgan Williams
At high school in year 12 I was told never to use black paint, that it wasn’t a real colour. If we needed a dark colour we were to mix it from all the other colours provided. We were advised that mixing was the way to make “proper shadows and darker shades.” This bemused me. I was busy doing giant abstract canvases. I didn’t really require shadows anyway. I was drawn to the intensity of the bright colours and proceeded quite happily without any black.
My art contained lots of red with green which felt like an act of rebellion. My grandfather often advised that “red and green should never be seen.” He clearly hadn’t seen many Christmas related ads or decorations. Or perhaps that’s why he derived the rule – that and my grandmother’s penchant for red and green knitwear!
Where do all these rules about colours come from? Red for danger. Purple for royalty. Yellow makes you hungry. At design school we were taught never to use green on food packaging as it is associated with mould. Now days green packets are used to indicate something healthy. We have seen the democratisation of colour in recent years – our screens allow everyone to access millions of colours. This wasn’t always the case. When pigments were the only tool available for visual expression they were expensive. Only the wealthy and their artists could afford certain pigments. There are still big differences in the cost of paint tubes today depending on the pigments being used.
I have always loved mixing colours, both on screen and in a paint palette: blending with a squeegee, stirring while making marble effects, the surprise of glazing. There’s an infinite amount of ways to play with colour. I’ll never forget the time my partner and I first did some plein air water colours on the beach. I was busy trying to emulate the rich blue sky and ocean with numerous shades of green. She had done a mostly black page. “So much black,” I remarked.
“It’s last night,” she replied in a matter of fact tone. I love that she was not only so bold with a forbidden colour but also flaunting the misconception that we should paint what was in front of us.
Radius Art Space is awash with blue and green at the moment. A local group landscape exhibition adorns the walls for another week. I enjoyed seeing the wide variety of works again this year – and the inevitable commentary. Colour is always one people easily connect with. “Ooh those colours are so soothing”. “Those colours work so well together”. “I’d love a couch in that colour”. “That one is a bit drab”. Being a fly on the wall in the gallery is one of my favourite parts of sitting the space.
The Landscape Exhibition ends on the 24th November so not long left if you haven’t already paid us a visit. We have our annual end of year market on the 14th of December and that’s us for another year. Look for us again later in January.
Morgan Williams is the co-director with Kim Percy of Radius Art Space. His art practice spans a 30 year period and explores a diverse range of mediums and topics.
