Sunday, 6 July 2014

Form Through Colour at Somerset House

Form Through Colour is a wonderful exhibition of Christopher Farr hand tufted rugs featuring work inspired by Joseph Albers, Anni Albers and Gary Hume.

Child's Room Rug, Anni Albers
by Christopher Farr
Display cases in the centre of each room show contextual information relating to the design development.

Gallery Room
Close up of display case showing an Anni Albers design

An excellent series of videos in the centre of the gallery explore colour theory. Christopher Farr describes his design process from client brief to colour experimentation to final proposal. A second video looks at Joseph Albers' unique approach of teaching students how to "see". You can also experiment with a fantastic iPad app, Interaction of Colour. This app allows you to explore the Joseph Albers colour principals and then go on to create your own colour schemes from a huge array of colours.

Interaction of Colour iPad app
Display case featuring Joseph Albers' Interaction of Colour
Joseph Albers' The Homage to the Square
by Christopher Farr

The Gary Hume door rugs are fantastic! The use of precise hand carving of the tufted rug to create the raised circles and rectangles is an excellent way of representing Gary Hume's original work with household gloss paint.

Gary Hume Door Rug
by Christopher Farr
A room of Gary Hume Door Rugs
by Christopher Farr

Christopher Farr has also created a mesmerising room full of hung Anni Albers fabrics. I was fascinated by the way the patterns change with light and distance as you walk through the room. 

The room of hung Anni Albers fabric
by Christopher Farr Cloth
Anni Albers Fabric
by Christopher Farr Cloth
Anni Albers Fabic
by Christopher Farr Cloth
This stunning exhibition is on at Somerset House until the 31st August 2014 and I will definitely be returning for another visit.