Pamela Fraser presents a new series of gouache and acrylic paintings that take color as their main subject and test the logic of established color systems. Best known for her sparse use of bright colors in otherwise empty black or white backgrounds, Fraser continues in this vein with her latest works of efflorescent, multi-colors that take shape as industrial paint-chip samples, color wheels and linear diagrams.

Inspired by her research in comparative color theory (from philosophy to design to everyday use) with a particular interest in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Color, which pokes holes in the logical understanding of color, Fraser examines the various ways that color operates and is operated on. She utilizes heavily inscribed color codes, such as a funky Pucci pattern or the Ohio State University football team colors, as well as less traditional color combinations, which fall outside of existing color codes. Both approaches explore the ineffable quality of color when it becomes detached from its meaning(s) and encoded logic.

With her resistance to the authority of a single convention, style, or visual code, Fraser’s reductive simplicity achieves a succession of small gestures and fictitious color schemes through cleverly articulated paint.