Luminous and the Grey

David Batchelor is an artist and writer based in London. His books include the bestselling Chromophobia (2000) and The Luminous and the Grey (2014), both published by Reaktion Books.

a rich meditation on colour . . . Batchelor is an exhilarating writer to read and think with he wears his research and scholarship lightly, while never belying the seriousness of his endeavor. - West 86thAll theory is grey, Mephistopheles pronounces in Goethes Faust. But greyness is the last thing to hold against David Batchelors colourful essay, The Luminous and the Grey. In three short chapters, the London-based artist-author offers to vindicatea colour without a colour that does so much of the unpaid housework in what we see and what artists make . . . Batchelor ranges wide, touching on art, film, optics and philosophy. His main point is that, contrary to reputation, grey can be bright, engaging and luminous. - RA MagazineAlthough a measured and carefully researched book, it also takes the reader by surprise, particularly in the run up to the final section on grey, where at first we have a re-run of the many prejudices to be found against this colour, but then suddenly Batchelor turns this around and allows all the bad feeling to unravel. He moves elegantly to a subtle and thought-provoking reflection that draws upon a wide range of sources including his personal reflections . . . Batchelor literally delves into ideas about grey and goes further and deeper than I have come across . . . Great read. - Cassone Art ReviewPraise for Chromophobia: Full of good writing, good anecdotes, devastating quotes, deft arguments, and just the sort of mysterious anomalies one would expect from an artist writing about the enemies of his practice. - Dave Hickey, BookforumA hugely entertaining guide to our ongoing obsession with white. - Time OutA provocative contribution to the discourse of color theory. - James Meyer, ArtforumThis beautifully produced book is an intelligent and provocative essay on why Western culture hates and fears colour. The prose is cumulative and passionate in its effect and widely referential from Barthes to Melville, Wim Wenders to Huysmans . . . you cannot fail to be stimulated by his thoughts. - RA MagazineSwitching from novels and movies to art and architecture, Batchelor clearly and cleverly traces the cultural implications of the 100 year-plus Colour War between Chromophobes like Le Corbusier, with their hosannas to whiteness, and Chromophiliacs like Warhol, the great artist of cosmetics. A succinct book of art theory which goes down smoothly. - i-D MagazineBatchelor has found an irresistible selection of anecdotes and quotes relating to the experience of color ... thoughtful and entertaining. - Tema Celestea theoretical and cultural banquet . . . The books narrative quality goes beyond the telling of color theorys history and other approaches to color, coming to read like a psychological thriller: how the West crushed color or at least thought it did so. - New Art Examiner, Chicago