Mankind’s earliest paints derived from red soil, and as that fact suggests, as humans we have an extremely long and deep attachment to the color red. Red is the color of the blood that gives us life and the color of fire, from which human civilization originated. From time immemorial, red has been linked to a broad array of meanings including life, passion, vigor, celebration and power. Red has long been, and continues to be, a color associated worldwide with ceremonies and decoration.
Red has also been a frequent player in the realm of painted art both east and west, starting from the cave paintings of Paleolithic times. In Christian art, for example, red is often used as the color of the robe worn by the Virgin Mary, a symbol of God’s love. In Buddhist art, red is used in conjunction with Acalanatha, the “God of Fire,” whose flames burn away all worldly desires. At times red also serves to express an artist’s inner feelings, or alternately as a device for evoking a visual or psychological effect. In all these different usages, red has literally “colored” the works in which it appears.
This exhibition will display red-based prints from CCGA’s Tyler Graphics Archive Collection by artists including Robert Motherwell and James Rosenquist. We hope the show will provide visitors with an opportunity to recognize anew the striking power of the color red.

Featured artists
Anni Albers (1899-1994),Ed Baynard (1940-),Mark di Suvero (1933-),Helen Frankenthaler (1928-),David Hockney (1937-), Ellsworth Kelly (1923-),Terence La Noue (1941-),Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997),Robert Motherwell (1915-1991),John Newman (1952-),James Rosenquist (1933-),Richard Smith (1931-),Steven Sorman (1948-),Donald Sultan (1948-)