Blue can be a color, a state of melancholy, a risque joke or song.
In Christian tradition, blue symbolizes truth, constancy and fidelity; Hindu divinities Shiva and Krishna are commonly depicted as blue.If the word blue is combined with other words like collar, moon, jay, chip, cheese, fin and nose, completely different meanings are born.
The heavens are blue.
In her 1971 song "Blue," Joni Mitchell forges a metaphor by shaping blue into a lost love, as well as ink:
"Blue, songs are like tattoos
You know I've been to sea before. . .
Hey Blue, here is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in. . . ."
Mitchell's, "ink on a pin, underneath the skin" is also applicable as the central metaphor for the Salt Lake Art Center's exhibit "Blue," a collection of 41 artworks by local and national artists.
In the exhibit the viewer is "pierced" again and again by the color blue. And, if amenable, the many moods created by the artists sink beneath the viewer's skin -- a visual/emotional tattoo.
"Blue" is the brainchild of guest curator, Will South, research curator at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. "One night, quite unexpectedly, the idea for 'Blue' popped into my head," writes South in the exhibit's brochure. South believes he was telling himself to get back to the basics, back to pure sensation and child-like expression.
"This exhibition raises questions about the relevance of this primary color in our lives," writes co-curator, Ric Collier, director of the SLAC. "It provides us with a glimpse into understanding the artist's motivation when expressing themselves with color, and is an examination of the influences which you, the viewer, bring to your experience of artwork."
The obvious unifying and dominant element in the show is the color blue. Yet, in "some of the work," writes co-curator, K. Emily Stauffer, assistant curator at the SLAC, "the use of blue comes from an enigmatic personal imagery. And there are cases where the curatorial process has, perhaps, imposed an unintended relevance on the use of blue."
It's this "unintended relevance" that makes "Blue" so successful as a show. The curators have managed to meld the varied works -- through physical positioning and imposed theme -- into a single idea. The potpourri of pieces also demonstrates the breadth of the curators' knowledge of available work.
But the most intriguing aspect of "Blue" is its psychological effect on viewers. And while all the visual elements of successful art -- line, shape, texture, etc. -- are in evidence, it is the excess of blue that finally leaves its "ink under the skin."
For example, Trevor Southey's 1980 piece, "Study for Shell Shedding," is predictably an excellent figure study. But it's not Southey's Renaissance-like craftsmanship alone that brings emotion. The figure is rendered in blue pencil, taking the image to a new, emotional level.
"Finally," writes South, "why blue and not some other color? The idea and the color came together -- quite literally 'out of the blue' -- and I never questioned it." Nor should viewers.
"Blue" is certain to get under the skin.