NEW YORK, NY.- Alteronce Gumby, the contemporary abstract painter and emerging filmmaker, has announced the opening of COLOR, a feature documentary produced in partnership with director John Campbell. COLOR explores the many facets to its abundant spectrum anchored by Gumby’s artistic practice, which is grounded in the exploration of color. The film’s announcement and trailer release coincide with the publication of Gumby’s debut museum catalog, Dark Matter, a limited edition of 200 that is accompanied by a print by the artist that was on May 31, 2023, which was celebrated with a book signing and performance in New York City.

“I’m thrilled to announce my debut feature film COLOR and first ever catalog – both are expressions of my unending fascination with how we experience color as both a visual property, but also culturally, spiritually, emotionally and musically,” states Gumby. “Dark Matter was developed as an accompanying work of art to my exhibition at the Allentown Art Museum. It functions as a limited edition printed work on its own and reflects many of the lines of inquiry raised in the curation of the exhibition. I’m so grateful to the museum for their vision in realizing this ambitious exhibition.”

“A journey into COLOR has been both exciting and educational for me,” said John Campbell. “Alteronce and I have had the great fortune of diving into spices, celebrations, pigments, dye, fabric, the underworld, gemstones, cultures, communities and so much more. This is something that everyone can relate to, and would find something enlightening to keep with them! Writing and directing this feature documentary has been a great highlight in my career.”

COLOR

The forthcoming feature documentary, COLOR examines the cultural, scientific and creative expansiveness of color. Beginning with a journey through Alteronce Gumby’s universe, the artist explains what color means to him and how it has influenced his creative expression. Throughout the documentary, Gumby attends and visits global celebrations and establishments where color takes the center stage. His travels span across the HOLI Festival in India, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, The Forbes Pigment Collection at Harvard University, The Crayola Experience in Easton, Pennsylvania, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and finally, The Northern Lights.

DARK MATTER

Alteronce Gumby’s first museum catalog, Dark Matter, debuts May 31, 2023. The volume serves as a printed collectible commemorating the artist's inaugural museum exhibition at the Allentown Art Museum. As described by the artist, the exhibition serves a metaphor for Blackness in society – how despite it being everywhere, all the time, it’s constantly misunderstood. Dark Matter also represents Gumby’s long standing fascination with the cosmos and explores the formal, material, and conceptual complexity of his paintings.

Presented in a limited edition of 200 and accompanied by signed print Ruff Ryder, the volume includes a forward by Max Weintraub, President and CEO of Allentown Art Museum and an essay “The Universe Paints with Stars, Gumby Paints With Stardust” by Dr. Stephon Alexander, Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Musician, Author and Professor of Physics at Brown University.

Dark Matter features UV activated pages, mirroring the effect used in several of Gumby’s works from the exhibition that presented the depth and breadth of Gumby’s artistic output from 2015 to 2022. Presenting color as a material and a metaphor, Dark Matter explores themes of visibility, agency, pop culture through abstract paintings. Each copy of the catalog also comes with a 7.5"x7.5" limited-edition print titled, Ruff Ryder, signed by the artist. The print is an image of Alteronce Gumby's work, designed by Peter Barbeito and printed at The Experimental Printmaking Institute in Easton, Pennsylvania by Kath Yarosky.

An event in New York City will take place on May 31, 2023 to celebrate the release of the catalog. A special jazz performance by Dr. Stephon Alexander will take place during the event to highlight various colors through sound. Alexander is known for his unique ability to straddle the worlds of theoretical physics and jazz music over the last two decades. He works on the connection between the smallest and largest entities in the universe, pushing Einstein’s theory of curved space-time far beyond the big bang with subatomic phenomena.