I’ll be the first to admit that I was not a fan of 2016’s duo picks for color of the year. The very light blues and fleshy pink more readily conjured memories of baby showers than a fashionable color most could easily welcome into their lives.
But two years later, Pantone has a solid hit with its 2018 Ultra Violet selection and locally, our Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (UICA) is ready to celebrate this new color in a big manner complete with a fresh new show devoted to the color, as well as a host of special events honoring it.
According to PANTONE®, the “Color of the Year is a symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.”
There is already a fascinating and familiar history attached to the name for this refreshing version of purple.
“This purple shade that has also been the name of a Warhol superstar who died in 2014; a 2006 dystopian action film starring Milla Jovovich as a rebel infected with a vampiric virus; an online activist community founded in 2012 to combat sexism and violence toward women; and a kind of light that can cause skin cancer (ahem).” (from the New York TImes' “
The Future Is ... Purple” by Vanessa Friedman.)
On Thursday, April 12 at 5:30 p.m., members of our downtown contemporary arts center are invited to plop down $5 to attend a special guided tour of this new exhibition hosted by UICA’s Executive Director Miranda Krajniak. (With each paid admission you will receive one free drink.)
In addition to original works of art on display at UICA, the Color of the Year exhibition will feature examples of design work by local, national, and international artists and artisans, with a focus on Michigan-based design and manufacturing.
Advance tickets can be purchased at UICA’s
Facebook Event page.