Seeing the world through color – our experiences, emotions, challenges, moods, joys, and journeys – may seem idiosyncratic to many people. Color is a single dimension, you may think, of a single sense.

But color has always triggered all my senses, and I believe it does for most of us, even if it happens subconsciously. Green is often fresh, and you can taste it and smell it; red is often hot and passionate, and you can feel it. Blue can be moody, and you can hear it.

Combinations of colors evoke more complex and nuanced responses, but they are real. And they are powerful enough to transform a space, a moment, an impression, a memory.

This is what I have strived to convey in my exhibit at the Venice Biennale – the transformative power of color and its connection to all our senses. The exhibit comprises ten display cases, each showcasing in mixed media ten color combinations that I call color worlds – the ten that correspond most closely to my perception of the main gears we live and work in.

All are featured at length in my book Ode to Color. Paired with each color world is a customized scented candle that captures the essence of that world. And completing the sensory presentation for each display is original music (composed by Jason Scott Myers and Mike Enwright) that captures the character and meaning of those color worlds.

To experience the music - link here!

It was, from conception to realization, one of the most meaningful projects of my career: a chance to offer an experiential rendering of the concepts that have guided me as an artist and designer throughout my professional life. Translating color into scent and sound was a remarkable undertaking for me as an artist.

More importantly, the viewer response to the exhibit moved me profoundly. Juxtaposed against the exceptional work of the other artists at the Biennale, whose messages and mastery were breathtaking, the Ode to Color exhibit represented to the attendees what I always hoped and believed it would: a place to rest, to appreciate, to lose oneself in through a full engagement of the senses in color and its many rhythms and manifestations. Some people cried. A great many lingered. And a number of guests returned repeatedly.

I am deeply grateful for the support of my sponsors and the contributions of the many with whom I collaborated on this project. Artistic Tile, Hunter Douglas, Pollack Weitzner and Samuel and Sons supported my work financially and supported me as an artist throughout this process. Among many others who assisted in the project, I want to thank Milton DePaul, Ivan Cassamassima, Roger Thomas, Art Libera, and Dorothy Mitchell.

The exhibit runs through late November. I also invite you to learn more to get a more holistic sense of the inspiration and motivation behind this exhibit - link here!

Addendum