Codys Exhibition Review 2

The ICA is a beautiful space with three main rooms used for the installation and viewing of art. There were photo collections, video/sculpture installations and two-dimensional characters, one in each room. The exhibit that struck me the most was one hidden in a handicap ramp connecting the photo room with the space with drawings on an upper floor.
Odili Donald Odital’s exhibit, Ramp Project, is strikingly vibrant and a refreshing use of color in an unusual space.
The exhibit is striking at first, and one is unsure whether it is an art or simply décor. The paintings are slanting lines, each at a slightly different or inverse angle so they feed into each other in an overlapping effect. The lines are crisp and clean and they are differentiated by use of color.
The lines bring awareness to the ramp, as they are along the walls, transforming the space from a handicap entrance into a charged environment made of color and line. The differentiating angles mimic the inclines of the ramp itself, incorporating the slope into the piece. The negative space is important and acts as a grounding point for the viewer. It balances the forms so they are not overpowering or disorienting.
The use of color is very interesting. It looks like it could be random, but each section of lines has a certain color scheme. Each section utilizes color in a way that it produces a unique sense or recognition. For example, I feel that one section uses “watermelon colors,” reds pinks and greens. Another, comprised of blues and greens, mimics the small wakes in a pond.
This piece is considered a modernist work due to the use of abstracting fragmentations and hard edges. The artist uses paint, a classical medium to explore the African culture in his own terms. The lines and color reflect the use of these two elements in African textile and artwork. He uses his own experience and cultural background with African tradition and modern day society as inspiration for these fractured horizontal planes.
This exhibit struck me immediately, before I had even stepped fully into the space. The usage of color and line is exactly what I have been focusing on for the past few months in my own artwork. Odital’s work held my attention because of the color usage and way it stirs up memories and recollections that the mind has attached to certain color schemes. He has taken line, color and shape, three basic elements of visual art, to create a form that holds immense value. This inspires me to keep pushing in the direction I am going, and that I can start incorporating my own expression into the examination I am performing currently.