A Touch of ‘Color Field’: Outdoor Art Exhibition Opens at UH

‘STOP, REFLECT, ENGAGE’

Public art brings people from all spectrums of society who wouldn’t normally go to a gallery or a museum, said Jeffie Brewer, the Nacogdoches, Texas artist who is showing multiple painted steel pieces in “Color Field”– including “Bunny.”

“‘Bunny’ is a form that I made about 12 years ago, and this is what actually got me into making public art,” Brewer explained. “I saw the interaction people had with public art and how they would stop, reflect or engage. That changed my perception of how art in general should be and what it meant to me.”

In addition to “Bunny,” Brewer is displaying other abstract forms “Cloud,” “Gigaff,” “Pop,” “Kitty” and “Pink Sexy.”

Along with Brewer and Braman, artists and their works also featured in “Color Field” include: Sam Falls, who has two works in the show: “Untitled (Wind Chimes)” (2014), a larger-than-life-sized, functional wind chime that makes music just by a gentle touch; “Untitled (Maze)” (2014), which consists of brightly colored panels, some of which are coated with light and heat-sensitive paint. Precise incisions into the surface of some panels allows sunlight to shine through the sculpture. “Back to Kansas” (2015) by Spencer Finch is a billboard-sized grid made out of 70 blocks of brilliant and subtle color inspired by “The Wizard of Oz.” Each color in the grid corresponds to a color from the film, such as “Yellow Brick Road” and “Ruby Slippers.” Odili Donald Odita’s “Negative Space” (2019) is a series of 13 flags on flagpoles inspired by the American flag and its related socio-cultural dynamics. Colors such as red, white and blue, and their complementary green, black and orange work to both enhance and contrast each other. “Forms from Life” (2019) by TYPOE is a grouping of minimalist shapes made out of painted aluminum that resemble enlarged building blocks. It is a reference to how the basic information we learn as children forms our understanding of the world. Sound artist and composer Amos Cochran’s “Color Field Outside / In” (2019) allows one’s emotions to wander freely in an immersive sonic soundscape. Cochran uses traditional instruments such as violin, cello, harp and piano to produce abstract recorded sounds.

The works are strategically placed throughout the UH campus starting with Wilhelmina’s Grove, the heart of the UH Arts District, which is bound by the Moores School of Music, School of Theatre & Dance, Valenti School of Communication and Fine Arts Building – all at the intersection of Cullen Boulevard and Elgin Street. The pieces then weave through the areas surrounding the Ezekiel W. Cullen Building, Butler Plaza and Lynn Eusan Park – off University Drive. Click here to download a map of "Color Field."

“By placing ‘Color Field’ works in and around UH’s iconic campus buildings, its main pedestrian arteries and existing permanent artworks in the Public Art collection, we truly want to incite dialogue not only between them and our campus’ natural and built environment, but also with other works for which color is a central node,” Gaztambide said.