painted houses

Imagine the bright-orange powder stuck to your fingers after eating a handful of Flaming Hot Cheetos. Now, imagine painting your house that color. A bit much, perhaps? 

That’s the point of “Colo(red) Theory,” an award-winning exhibition by artist and architect Amanda Williams that explores the relationship between color, the Black experience, and abandoned residences in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago.

In 2014 and 2015, Williams located eight abandoned houses in Englewood that the city had slated for demolition, and with the help of volunteers quietly painted them in bold, bright colors to bring attention to the isolation within their neighborhood. The art installation was included as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Her color choices weren’t random. At the time Williams, who grew up in nearby Auburn-Gresham and holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree with an emphasis in Fine Art from Cornell University, chose the colors for the project based on the exact colors of consumer products marketed primarily to the Black community on Chicago’s South Side.

The result was shocks of monochromatic color dotted across abandoned blocks, lots and retail areas in Englewood: houses bathed in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos orange, Ultra Sheen blue and hot-pink Pink Oil moisturizer; a two-story building glowing Harold’s Chicken Shack red; two structures painted in Currency Exchange and Safe Passage yellows; and two more vibrant in Newport 100/Loose Squares teal and Crown Royal purple.

Each of these colors, according to Williams, evokes a shared experience among people who recognize them.

“I’m interested in a system that imagines artful ways to construct new narratives about zero value landscapes; allowing them to shed an identity of victim and embrace instead the role of active protagonist,” Williams says in the artist’s statement for the project.

The effect is jarring, and not just because of the palette. By highlighting these structures with bold, familiar colors Williams asks us to think about the value we assign these types of structures, and what their current condition represents to their communities.

Since 2015, the “Colo(red) Theory” photo exhibit (the structures have all been demolished) has traveled to galleries and museums in Chicago and the Midwest. In 2017, Williams participated in a similar project involving a community center in St. Louis. Williams currently produces art and serves as a board member of both the Garfield Park Observatory and Hyde Park Art Center. She also serves on the Exhibition Design Team for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.