A Colorful Dream at the Cannon

The William D. Cannon Art Gallery, at the Carlsbad Library, is one of my favorites. The exhibits are so unique and totally free. How very cool!

This long waited, family-friendly, interactive exhibition is from the creativity of contemporary fine art photographer Adrien Broom. The exhibit features a suite of photographs, some of them large in scale, detailing a young girl’s journey as she discovers a series of monochromatic fantasy worlds exploring the rich hues and associations that we have with every color in the spectrum.

Over three years in her studio, Broom constructed eight individual sets composed of objects evoking the essence of each respective color. She then photographed a young girl exploring and traveling through each world, passing through small portals that lead her on a journey through a red world, then orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and lastly a rainbow encompassing all the colors. Encountering creatures, characters, and vivid landscapes, Broom’s protagonist finds worlds lush, joyful, and even sometimes startling.

When we entered the gallery, we were given a packet of cards as a welcome. The cover reads, "As you stroll through the exhibit maze please use the enclosed cards at each color section to connect and engage further with the works of art. Enjoy!"

The first card reads, "Beginning of a Story. Take a moment and look at the very first photograph in the exhibit that is titled A World Without Color. If this photograph is the beginning of a story what do you think might happen next? What makes you think that?" My granddaughters would have loved this. It is truly an artistic Eye Spy.



The amount of talent that was needed for each of these 40 images was great. They hid treasures within, giving us time to pause and really study each thoughtfully.

"Invent a Headline! Explore the ORANGE photographs. Choose one of the artworks and invent a headline that captures an important aspect of the photograph. What does your headline say? Why would your headline capture someone's interest?"

Yellow with its sunflowers, giraffe, slide, and glow was mesmerizing.



Who doesn't want to be under the sea with an octopus teacher?



In looking at the images, it would be easy to mistake the effects as a digital manipulation of the original photograph. In fact, Broom creates each of these worlds by hand, much like a stage production. These images are not put together using photo-editing software, but are the result of hours of crafting tableaux, so what the viewer sees is in fact what was in front of the camera’s lens during the shoot. Thankfully, at the end of the exhibit, there was a space to watch a time-lapse video showing the engrossing process of constructing the live sets for the photographs, offering insight into Broom’s creative process and the production required to bring these images to life. It made everything that much more impressive. WOW. This was definitely worth the wait!

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2 comments:

Erin Marlowe said...

Wow - Mom and I thought this was absolutely fantastic. What a unique vision this photographer has.

Four Points Bulletin said...

So neat. I am sure our daughter would love it. We will have to check it out! Thanks.

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