Coloring Project 2007 - present
Over 60 professional artists from throughout the US, London and Japan have participated to date in three shows, the artists intervened on poster-sized coloring pages. All proceeds of the exhibitions have supported arts programming in elementary and high schools.
2015 “On Coloring | An Exhibition on Contemporary Art History and Coloring I”, Rolling River Distillery, Portland, OR
2016 “On Coloring | An Exhibition on Contemporary Art History and Coloring II”, a fundraiser for arts in education, Pushdot Studios, Portland, OR
2017 “On Coloring | An Exhibition on Contemporary Art History and Coloring III”, a fundraiser for arts in education, Luke’s Frame Shop, Portland, OR
These installations are playful exercises to raise awareness to arts programming in schools, and the importance of homage and lineage. The project started from a failed publishing attempt, and has grown to reach and create a different and new dialog about contemporary art.
The title of the project is: “In a True Democracy the Many are Obligated to the Few” or the “Coloring Project” for short.
A democracy implies a system for choosing and replacing, and the active participation of people. I’m playing with this idea and the idea of the contemporary art system, which is by no stretch of the imagination a democracy. What if it could be? The contemporary artists listed start from Van Gogh and reach to present day artists such as Guy Ben-Ner and Ann Hamilton. I’ve then drawn lines over the course of several years, based on the information I learn through research and reading. The lines don’t always correspond to thematic connections, they could be drawn because they dated, they dressed windows together to make a living, or they are mothers. While contemporary theorists would balk at my exercise, I truly find art historical texts and essays to be full of opinion and fiction – a sliver of reality framed in the most aesthetic light. So I thought I would try the same.
Background of Coloring Book
This project started in 2007 after I wrote my very first guide to contemporary art – one that was intended to bring light and levity to an otherwise daunting, theory-ridden proposition. Mind you it was not meant to parody, but rather a work of consequence – I don’t take lightly the importance and power of art and its lineage.
When it came time to approach publishers and gather permissions for the use of imagery, the work took a sad shift south. The cost and privilege of having original works documented in a book or catalog are exorbitant, not to mention an application process that requires one to prove scholarly-ness, PhD-ness or institution-ness. None of which are part of my vocabulary, nor shall they be, when discussing the most vital and basic need of art in our lives.
I promptly put the project on hold and stewed. On a residency the stewing started as tracing the 151 images I had collected for reference. While tracing I considered where I could fit amongst all of this business. What was my position and contribution as an artist? How could I use my art to help me understand life a little better and help others too? What is my relationship to the larger dialog of contemporary art? So the tracings became meditations and quiet questions.
Over a period of five years I soaked in the tracings and made peace with doubts and questions I had surrounding these thinkers and makers. The results are a skeleton of the exercise, and one that I felt needed to be shared. Could I use these to illustrate my original manuscript? Likely not. Then I thought about the play of coloring, the idea of inside and outside the lines, what is missing and what is chosen. And of course levity and humor are always gateways to opening our minds. And thus the coloring book in your hands was born.
These tracings are merely quotations – homages to some of the most powerful minds in contemporary art. They are not copies, they are tracings and a way for me to bear witness, a way to attempt a lineage, see what feels best, and see what essence feels closest to home.
I hope that the images and invitation to color create a springboard to learn more about the works cited, the artists and the ideas from which they were derived, or simply a way for one to meditate on the life, work and challenges of visual artists in the 20th and 21st centuries.
In no instances have I claimed the work as my own, all works are titled after the maker, I only claim the work to be an homage and a thank you. I’m sending this out into the world with the hope that artists known and unknown can be reminded of their incredible contributions, can make connections to one another, and can use the white space to feel included in the dialog.
Peace and love, and thank you for coloring.
Catherine Haley Epstein, October 2013
Three Installments to date
The flyer sharing participants names for the 2017 installation of The Coloring Project. All proceeds go towards arts in school programs decided upon by the host gallery.
Each artist intervened on the coloring pages I drew for three separate exhibitions. All proceeds benefit arts programming in local schools.
Example of Coloring Page
After Cornelia Parker
Example of Coloring Page
After Yinko Shonibare
Artist Intervention
Ann Ploeger after Michelangelo Pistoletto
