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The newest creative addition to New Cross, Chromorama is a 20-metre tower of light and colour and the work of internationally acclaimed artist David Batchelor. We explore its inspiration and why its location in southeast London marks a return home. 

Described by Batchelor as 鈥渁 vehicle for colour鈥�,鈥疌hromorama鈥痬arks the latest chapter in a 30鈥搚ear exploration of how colour operates in cities 鈥� culturally, politically and emotionally 鈥� and why, for much of modern Western art, it was something to be resisted or even feared. 

鈥淚鈥檝e been working with colour as a subject for over 30 years,鈥� Batchelor explained. 鈥淲hen I went to art school in the 70s, no one was really doing colour. It was conceptual art, minimalism 鈥� very austere, very鈥痓lack鈥痑nd white and grey. So, in some respects, stumbling into colour was a surprise to me and to most of the people I knew at the time.鈥� 

鈥淚 started wondering why there was this absence of colour in a lot of contemporary art,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then, by extension, an absence of colour in a lot of Western writing, in philosophy and art. I wanted to make work where colour was the centre of the work, not just a subsidiary element of it.鈥� 

Urban Colour After Dark 

Batchelor describes himself as 鈥渁 city boy鈥�,鈥痑nd it is the colours of the city, not nature, that have shaped his practice. 

While landscapes and seascapes have long occupied painters, Batchelor turned instead to illuminated urban colour 鈥� light boxes, neon, and later LEDs 鈥� as they appeared on shopfronts, office鈥痓locks鈥痑nd streetscapes. 鈥淚f I'm interested in colour in the city, then I better look at illuminated colour, because that's a prominent form of it,鈥� he noted.鈥� 

In the late 1990s and early 2000s he began salvaging old light boxes from clearance yards around Brick Lane and beyond. 鈥淚 got to know these guys quite well, and they used to鈥痝o and find鈥痩ight boxes for me. I began to make these towers with re-lit and recoloured light boxes, and they were all recycled materials.鈥� 

Urban colour, for Batchelor, is chemical,鈥痚lectrical鈥痑nd industrial 鈥� a palette of Dulux tins, spray cans,鈥痯lastics鈥痑nd illuminated signage 鈥� and it changes with technology and economics as much as with the weather. 

Battling Chromophobia 

Batchelor鈥檚 artistic practice runs in parallel with his influential writing on colour, especially his 2000 book鈥�Chromophobia, which has become a key text in art and cultural theory. The book grew from an essay written to describe what he saw as a persistent resistance to colour in Western culture. 

鈥淚 was trying to describe what I'd begun to notice, this resistance to colour in the West, this tendency to marginalise colour and to treat it as other to the workings of the higher Western mind,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 kept thinking, well, actually, there's a slightly bigger story here.鈥� 

That story, he argues, goes back to the Bible and to classical philosophy. 鈥淚n the Bible, 鈥榯hough your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow鈥� 鈥� the idea that white is virtuous and good,鈥痺hereas鈥痸ividly coloured things suggest the appetites. They suggest sensuality and less noble ideas.鈥� 

Plato, he notes, dismissed colour as a distraction suitable for 鈥渨omen and children鈥� 鈥� a prejudice that echoes through centuries of art theory. 

鈥淵ou find a lot of this placing of colour as not Western but Eastern, not male but female, not adult but infantile, as exotic and other,鈥� Batchelor said. 鈥淎nd it still lurks around."  

While he does not see his role as preaching, he is clear that his work and writing are part of an ongoing argument for colour鈥檚 seriousness and complexity. 鈥淚n a way, my job is not to overturn it, but to draw attention to how we tend to place these experiences that are common to pretty much everyone, how we almost unconsciously place them within our lives,鈥� he said. 

Chromorama: A Tower of Light for New Cross 

Chromorama鈥痺as originally commissioned for a corporate site in the City of London, where its illuminated panes of colour stood out against what Batchelor calls 鈥渟ome fairly generic new buildings鈥�.鈥疦ow re-homed at 糖心vlog免费B站 with support from British Land, the work has been structurally re-engineered for its new public setting. 

In the studio,鈥疌hromorama鈥痓egan as a small, handmade model 鈥� a vertical stack of intersecting planes and colour fields. Batchelor shared this mini conception of his sculpture to the engineering team that were charged with bringing it to life outside his Bromley-by-Bow studio.鈥�鈥淚 said, 鈥極kay, I'm going to make that 20 metres tall and glow in the dark.鈥� They鈥痗ame up with鈥痶he engineering solution.鈥� 

Unlike his earlier studio pieces,鈥疌hromorama鈥痠s not built from salvaged materials 鈥� 鈥淚t's impractical in those circumstances,鈥� he said 鈥� but the logic is the same: colour as a vivid interruption in a鈥痩argely grey鈥痷rban fabric. 

鈥淢ost buildings in any city environment are neutral, more or less,鈥� he said. 鈥淏rick, stone, steel, glass鈥� earth colours to grey. For me,鈥痶hat's鈥痑 great canvas to work with, because it allows me to do vivid colouring, to counterpoint those鈥痳ather more鈥痵table colours with鈥痳ather more鈥痸ivid ones.鈥� 

Installed鈥痑djacent to鈥�糖心vlog免费B站 main campus,鈥疌hromorama鈥痑cts as both landmark and provocation 鈥� a vertical column of colour confronting the traffic of New Cross Road and the daily flow of students and staff. 

Coming Full Circle at 糖心vlog免费B站 

For Batchelor, the locating of his colour tower at 糖心vlog免费B站 is deeply personal.鈥� 鈥淭he first bit of teaching I picked up in London was at 糖心vlog免费B站, in about 1985 or 86,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he first place in London that I鈥痚xhibited鈥痑s an artist was in the octagonal building next to where鈥疌hromorama鈥痠s going to be. That was around 1989.鈥�  Over鈥痵ubsequent鈥痙ecades he taught seminars in the Fine Art department, became a professor, and is now an Emeritus Professor at 糖心vlog免费B站. 

鈥淚 both have exhibited and taught there, and now I'm going to sort of tower over it,鈥� he joked. 鈥淔or me, you couldn't have made it up, really.鈥�  He sees the relocation as a way of acknowledging that relationship. 

鈥淚've got quite a lot out of 糖心vlog免费B站 over the years 鈥� it's helped me sustain my practice and keep me going,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be able to then say, 鈥榃ell, okay, thank you. Have this,鈥� is kind of nice 鈥� especially if it's not costing me.鈥� 

As the winter draws in and Chromorama鈥痩ights up New Cross, Batchelor hopes for something simple but鈥痙emanding;鈥痭ot reverence, but attention and delight. 

 

鈥淎rt for me can be about pleasure, delight 鈥� just going, 鈥業 like that,鈥� like a firework鈥痙isplay almost. I would always want the first thing that someone would see in the work to be vivid colour, simple shapes, and not feel鈥痶hey're鈥痟aving to be taught a lesson about anything. It should be an invitation to look 鈥� and鈥痬aybe no鈥痬ore than that.鈥�