Humanities. 3rd floor in Canada
My child-self watched the world with intensity. I remember walking through the Humanities Centre at the University of Alberta, where my father had an office in the English Department. This was a landscape, like outside, there of its own accord. It was a surprise to realize that someone designed this space, built it, inhabited it. There are banners hanging from the ceiling. I remember the colors and how they floated in that middle space, the airy core of the building.
These banners were created by Takao Tanabe, a Canadian artist. Printed on nylon, they glow in the light. I didn’t know an artist created this part of my landscape. Born in 1926, Tanabe started as an abstract expressionist painter, and eventually moved into semi-abstract landscapes. His banners were along the way, from the later 60’s/early 70’s, with drafting tool angles, gradated colors, and of course orange.
For more of Takao Tanabe’s work, check out my Orange Tuesdays Pinterest Board