187 Colors to Watch in 2009

Graphite, ink, and paint swatches, mounted on bristol board. 2008. 22” x 30”.

When colors are for sale, as house paint—as clothing or shoe colorways, as car exterior choices—they are often given names that are meant to entice the buyer with the promise of beauty, ease, love, wealth, and happiness. Rebelling against that idealistic notion, I sought to give these colors names that better reflected the reality of existence. The diverse variety of names ranges from boring, to disgusting, to obscure. Pop culture, history, psychology, nerddom, and nature, among others are all mined for their potential to perfectly describe each hue.