Exposition research (part II) - McManus galleries [part 3]

What?
This is the third of a four part research piece focusing on the layouts and display of the works on exhibition at the McManus galleries in the centre of Dundee.
Why?
To gather a greater understanding how one displays a variety of works, using different materials, colours, labelling and arrangements/layouts.

Below, I have uploaded some of the images I took on my visit to the McManus, what colour schemes/patterns have been used, highlighting any positives or negatives and building conclusive results relevant towards the development of showcasing my work at the end of the semester.

Exhibits:

This was the first piece I photographed, featured just as you come through the entrance of the McManus.I was going to categorise this piece with layouts, however, I felt the colour selection here was very well done. Although this pale blue/grey and brown are not fully contrasting colours, the items in the foreground with the brown outline are much more alluring, therefore, drawing all focus from passing visitors. The cream photograph and portrait painting of the man at the top of this piece draw particular attention because the cream stands out from the white of the other photos/drawings and the portrait painting is the only part of this piece that uses both intense low and high value colours/tones/shades such as; red, white, peach (skin colour) and black. The only flaw in this piece, personally, is the lack of colour, I realise that less is more, however, I feel that alluring colours both high and low value tend to draw more attention from others.

This piece was one of my favourites, why, the colour. The red of the background enables the paintings/photos/text in the foreground to stand out more. The white text including the header, quotations and descriptions contrast with the red of the backgrounds and the colours of paintings/pictures on the right hand side. The negative here is not the colour scheme but the picture/painting selection. The two highest paintings/pictures on the this exhibited piece do more to blend with the background rather than stand out, which is why the lowest painting/picture is more visible because the colours contrast, thus, drawing more attention from passing visitors.

This piece was bursting with colours so my camera was at the ready instantly. The blue helps the central item of this exhibited piece (the dark orange painting on the left) stand out because they are directly contrasting colours. The framed item below the main piece blends with the background colour because it is not as important and is not intended to draw focus. The two white item on the right also contrast with blue background, however, they are smaller in scale and are considered secondary. This piece would have intentionally appeared to have gone for a particular colour scheme, contrasting colours, however, the dark and harmonising items below the main piece interrupt this style and thus, making this exhibited piece as a whole somewhat disorganised in terms of colour.

Conclusion:

This study/research focusing on colour selection/patterns/schemes has really helped me understand that if colours are not chose appropriately, my pieces might not stand out and therefore, failing to draw attention towards my work from visitors during the end of semester showcase. Contrasting colours is one of my favoured colour patterns/schemes, however, I would not like to rule out other styles because I am still in the process of designing my showcase layout.