Photo: Gabriel Volpi
Color is a powerful force. It’s an element of art and a vital tool for creatives to express themselves. The addition of certain colors can provoke our emotions, making us feel calm and peaceful or even agitated and anxious. An exhibition now on view at Opera Gallery Miami showcases the seemingly endless ways in which artists use color. Titled In Dialogue with Color: Mid-20th Century to Now, the show is organized by hue and highlights a range of subject matter from artists spanning decades and movements.
Visitors to the exhibition will walk through sections of artwork based on how they used green, blue, red, pink, orange, as well as black and white, in their compositions. There’s intimate portraiture and monumental abstractions. But regardless of content, each piece begs for a philosophical consideration of how its chosen color shapes the narrative of the piece or the experience when viewing it.
“With this exhibition, we wanted to explore the artist’s engagement with color as a way to symbolize meaning, convey identity, and provoke thought,” says Dan Benchetrit, director of Opera Gallery in Miami. “The mediums and subject matter are diverse, but at its core, this exhibition explores the ways artists use color.”
In Dialogue with Color features works by some of the biggest names in the Western art world. This includes Marc Chagall and his piece titled L’âne vert (1978), a painting awash in deep blues that evoke the artist’s brand of poetic symbolism. Keith Haring is another artist whose Untitled (1984) showcases his trademark line drawings against vibrating neon orange. And Yayoi Kusama, well known for her use of red, has a piece titled Fire (1988), which uses the hue as a key element of its composition.
Juxtaposition is a theme of In Dialogue with Color. The show has a section that explores color dualities, including black and white. Here, Amoako Boafo’s piece titled Embrace (2023), sees two Black figures on a white background to explore Blackness—cultural identity and pride—by way of portraiture.
In Dialogue with Color: Mid-20th Century to Now is on view at the Opera Gallery Miami until January 5, 2026.
In Dialogue with Color: Mid-20th Century to Now is a show organized by hue.
Photo: Gabriel Volpi
Photo: Gabriel Volpi
Now on view at Opera Gallery Miami, it highlights a range of subject matter from artists spanning decades and movements.
Photo: Gabriel Volpi
The show runs through January 5, 2026.
Photo: Gabriel Volpi
Photo: Gabriel Volpi
Photo: Gabriel Volpi
