CURATOR'S SELECTION:
Yellow Light

The colour yellow has held a complex and evolving significance in art history, symbolizing a range of emotional, cultural, and spiritual ideas. In ancient Egyptian and Chinese art, yellow was associated with divinity and imperial authority, representing power, light, and eternity. During the European Middle Ages and Renaissance, its meaning became more ambiguous; while it appeared in religious iconography to signify holiness, it was also linked to treachery through depictions of Judas Iscariot. In the 19th century, artists like Vincent van Gogh used yellow expressively to convey emotion and psychological intensity, as seen in his iconic Sunflowers.

In modern and contemporary art, yellow continues to serve as a powerful visual and symbolic tool, employed in both abstract and conceptual works to explore perception, emotion, and identity. For example, Alex Cameron's painting Yellow features a dynamic interplay of yellows and complementary hues, creating a vibrant, abstract composition that invites emotional engagement. Similarly, David T. Alexander's Last Yellow Glow in the Inlet North captures the fleeting moment of sunset with bold strokes of yellow, reflecting the transient beauty of nature. Lastly, George Byrne's photograph Yellow Wall With Blue captures the interplay of architectural surfaces and color, reflecting modernist aesthetics and the civic infrastructure. These works demonstrate how yellow remains a vital tool for artists to convey shifting time, emotional energy and symbols of urban life in contemporary art.