Olafur Eliasson works across mediums to investigate the ways in which the elements of color and light can be experienced in art. To do so, he has established processes for scaling hues and tracking the changing effect of luminosity in paint. For example, in his 2009 series “Color Experiment Paintings” he worked with a chemist to produce paint pigments for each wavelength in the visible spectrum. His ongoing exploration of color phenomena is in dialogue with Josef Albers’s pioneering work in color theory, especially his Homage to the Square series. In Yellow outcome, Eliasson sought to create a subtle image that transforms the process of looking into a time-based experience. The gradual shift in hue in this work, conveyed through a succession of widening ellipses, only becomes fully apparent over time.

Label from Drawing: The Beginning of Everything, July 8–October 15, 2017