Whether site-specific or designed with any venue in mind, installation art has the ability to transform its surroundings and invite viewers to observe art from new perspectives. In addition to size and material, installation artists love to experiment with color. One tonal trend that has taken the art world by storm is the use of a polychromatic color palette, as evident in this selection of artists renowned for their rainbow art installations.
Like most forms of artistic expression, installed works can be found in numerous settings. Some, like the ethereal thread exhibits of Gabriel Dawe, migrate between museums. Others, like the paper art creations of Mademoiselle Maurice, bring pops of color to city streets. Most, however, are custom-made for gallery spaces and bring kaleidoscopic colors to the often monochromatic settings. No matter the locale, these artists’ rainbow art installations are sure to dazzle viewers with their dreamy color compositions.
Gabriel Dawe
Title: Plexus 35
Read more: Indoor Rainbow Made of Thread Flows Through the Toledo Museum of Art
Title: Plexus A1
Read more: Vibrant Rainbow Installation Made with 60 Miles of Thread Weaves through the Smithsonian
Title: Plexus 27
Read more: Dazzling Ceiling Installation Creates Exquisite Form Using Miles of Thread
Texas-based artist Gabriel Dawe is renowned for his site-specific installations composed of twisting and turning Technicolor thread. Large-scale and seemingly shape-shifting, his pieces can add a pop of spectral color to any setting.
Mademoiselle Maurice
Piece for ARTAQ Festival
Read more: Collaborative Origami Installations by Mademoiselle Maurice
French artist Mademoiselle Maurice installs colorful and ephemeral origami works throughout the world’s major cities. With each piece of bright and bold public art, she aims to embellish ordinary streets and mundane buildings.
Emmanuelle Moureaux
Title: I Am Here
Read more: Colorful Cascade of 18,000 Paper Silhouettes in 100 Different Colors
Title: Sparkling Bubbles
Read more: Dazzling “Sparkling Bubbles” Installation Features 800 Acrylic Spheres
Title: Forest of Numbers
Read more: Interactive Rainbow Installation Invites Visitors to Explore a Forest of Numbers
For her ongoing 100 Colors series, French architect and designer Emmanuelle Moureaux creates polychromatic, interactive exhibitions based on a 100-tone palette and a large-scale aesthetic.
Travis Rice
Title: Accumulation
Title: Cotton Candy Cesspool
Title: Rainbow Dyed Psychedelic Hallucination
Read more: Colorful Paper Installations by Travis Rice Made with a Document Shredder
Using shredded paper, artist Travis Rice designs large-scale installations that overflow with color. Inspired by Impressionism, Rice strives to evoke movement through his peculiar practice. “The approach is similar to that of the impressionist painter, but the brush stroke has been replaced by individual thin strips of paper that are the resultant product of a mechanical shredder,” he says. “The constructed forms are meant to imply frozen motion often starting from the ceiling and cascading to the floor.”
Liz West
Title: Our Color Reflection
Read more: Historic Church Gets Reinvigorating Transformation With a Reflective Rainbow Floor
Title: Our Colour
Title: Shifting Luminosity
Artist Liz West crafts “vivid environments that mix luminous color and radiant light.” Though her penchant for polychromatic color schemes is apparent in much of her work, she often experiments with mediums and style, culminating in a diverse and original portfolio.
Li Hongbo
Title: Irons for the Ages, Flowers for the Day
Title: Irons for the Ages, Flowers for the Day
Title: Irons for the Ages, Flowers for the Day
Read more: Dynamic Rainbow Installation Is Carefully Crafted from Hidden Shapes Addressing Gun Violence
Chinese sculptor Li Hongbo is renowned for his delicate approach to paper art. In addition to his celebrated, plain paper busts, Hongbo has also created Irons for the Ages, Flowers for the Day, a radiant rainbow installation that unexpectedly explores the controversial conflict surrounding guns and weapons.
Megan Geckler
Title: No chance to look backwards and see
Read more: Megan Geckler’s New Criss-Crossing Tape Sculptures
Title: A million things that make your head spin
Read more: Rainbow Tape Installation Flows Through Six-Story Atrium Like a Colorful Waterfall
Title: Spread the ashes of the colors
Read more: Beautiful Plastic Ribbon Art
Los Angeles-based artist Megan Geckler employs plastic tape to create kaleidoscopic installations. Though industrial in nature, the material is beautiful when banded or woven together. “The tape becomes the surface and a point of departure for color studies, achieved by layering the material over itself, much like a painter would use a glaze, exponentially increasing the limited palette that is available,” she explains.
Markus Linnenbrink
Title: WASSERSCHEIDE(DESIREALLPUTTOGETHER)
Read more: Disorienting Rainbow Room in Germany
Title: DIEDRITTEDIMENSION
Title: TWOPIECEPUZZLEBEHINDTHEHILLS
German artist Markus Linnenbrink‘s striped installations transform ordinary spaces into psychedelic experiences. Dripping paint, clashing colors, and perplexing perspectives disorient the viewer and showcase Linnenbrink’s innovative approach to interactive installations.
Brut Deluxe
Title: Yǔzhòu
Title: Yǔzhòu
Title: Yǔzhòu
Read more: Rainbow Labyrinth Light Installation Immerses Visitors in a Technicolor World
The eclectic oeuvre of Spanish design firm Brut Deluxe conveys an artistic interest in architecture and industrial design. Yǔzhòu, an interactive installation created for the Luneng Sanya Bay Light and Art Festival in China, invites visitors to enter a labyrinth-like environment composed of dazzling multicolored lights.
Pierre Le Riche
Title: Broederbond
Read more: Small Rainbow Room Covered with 11 Miles of Thread
Title: Nwtwn
Title: The Hologram Series
The colorful art of Pierre Le Riche captures the Cape Town-based designer’s interest in exploring the social issues that surround homosexuality. With the gay flag as his muse, Le Riche creates rainbow works that are as conceptual as they are aesthetically fascinating.