The music of color: Sam Gilliam 1967-1973

Abstract

Sam Gilliam is one of Americas most prominent abstract painters. The catalogue puts the focus on the years between 1967 and 1973, the period of the greatest radicalism in Gilliams oeuvre. The paintings he created during these years stand out for their monumentality and forceful use of color. The canvas becomes a medium that records traces of the production process and exhibits its own physicality. At a time when painting seemed to be in decline, Gilliam breathed new life into it; jazz was an important source of inspiration for his expressive and energetic style. The Music of Color also probes the political and historical dimension of Gilliams oeuvre. While the artist himself rarely comments on political issues, the works in his Martin Luther King series and Jail Jungle reflect the 1968 race riots and the highly polarized debate over black art and abstract painting in 1960s and 1970s America.