David Zwirner: James Welling “Pathological Color”

Goethe’s suggestive concept of “pathological color”, states that people of refinement avoid vivid colors in the objects around them and seem inclined to banish vivid colors from their presence altogether. It was refreshing to see James Welling’s embrace of color, in his exhibition of photographic works titled “Pathological Color.” Some of his images leads you towards a psychedelic drug induced mind set such as “Morgan Great Hall”, while others provide you with a stimulating sense of calm, as seen in “0696.” Welling likes to manipulate through layers in his pictures and focuses on the psychological effects that color has on a person. He notes that his “aim was to show seeing.”

What makes the absence of color “refined?” Is refinement a visual language delegated to a specific type of person? Welling’s famous project was photographing Philip Johnson’s Glass House over several years and seasons in the late 2000s, physically holding colored filters in front of his camera lens. The glass house itself being an ultimate test in refinement, Welling presented a powerful inquiry in his physical attempt to place color on the home. The result was an alteration and enhancement of an already striking piece of architecture, giving refinement a new definition.

In many of Welling’s images, he presents to us multiple surfaces and superimposes dancers with landscapes, architecture and sculptures, ultimately making a final scene that attempts to recreate the human sensorium.