Palo Gallery is pleased to present A Blue Semiotic, a thematic group exhibition that interrogates the nature of representation and the myriad ways in which artists use symbolism to indicate the presence of their subjects. The exhibition is predominantly comprised of new, figurative works by artists including Lewinale Havette, Brianna Rose Brooks, Yannick Lowery, Kim Faler, Bianca Walker, Leon Pozinakow, Adolphus Washington, Audrey Lyall and uses the color blue as a recurring motif. Exploring parallels and convergences between written language and visual language, A Blue Semiotic interrogates the ways in which artists tell stories and convey messages through word and sign. The exhibition also shines a light upon the historical use of semiotics, and the color blue, in Black portraiture.
A Blue Semiotic examines the portrayal of the human form with and without explicit depiction of the self, and how the essence of life manifests even in vague reference to the body. Utilizing signs such as icons, indexes, and symbols to indicate the existence of a being, these artworks muddle the notion of representation and materialize the complex nature by which artists delineate the presence of their subjects. Semiotics – the study of signs and symbols – seeks to understand how society successfully communicates abstract ideas through visual means, such as pictorial expressions or the written word. A Blue Semiotic encourages viewers to explore the ways in which artists communicate concepts of personhood through the simple use of color, form, line, shape, space, texture, and value. Through the motif of the color blue, the exhibition brings to the fore an even deeper consideration of blue as a color that signifies substantial philosophical, psychological, and societal meanings By inviting each artist to personally explore the color blue in their work, the exhibition exposes the adaptability of the hue in signifying variable meanings.
