Form through colour: art and textiles

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If you love colour and geometric graphics it’s hard not to be drawn to the work of Josef Albers. Showing at Somerset House for another two weeks (until 31st August) is FORM THROUGH COLOUR, an exhibition of Christopher Farr textiles inspired by the works of Josef Albers, his wife Anni Albers and contemporary artist Gary Hume.

The Alberses (help, what’s the plural of Albers?) were influential Bauhaus artists – Josef specialising in colour theory, and Anni in textiles and weaving although both were multi-disciplinary. Josef Albers’ famous ‘Homage To The Square’ series is a way of showing how colours ‘read’ differently depending how they’re positioned. But they also make very pretty paintings. And textiles, as shown here.

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The exhibition is a collaboration with rug company Christopher Farr, so there are some items that you can buy – we went home with two Anni Albers cushions as well as Josef Albers’ Interaction of Color book, the result of his years heading up the design faculty at Yale. I also downloaded the Interaction of Color app, a playful colour exploration tool developed by the Josef and Anni Albers foundation in partnership with Yale University Press. It’s a great experimental plaything for designers and students, or even kids.

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FORM THROUGH COLOUR is at Somerset House until 31st August.