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Chromophobia is a book by the artist and writer David Batchelor published in 2000.

Batchelor presents the argument that a fear of corruption through colour can be detected within much Western cultural and intellectual thought, a fear he terms ‘chromophobia’. He demonstrates how the impulse to avoid or purge colour takes a variety of forms, either by making it a property of ‘otherness’ - the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, the pathological - or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic.

Batchelor considers how chromophobia has been a cultural phenomenon since ancient Greek times and explores various forms of resistance to it. He assesses the work of writers and artists who view colour as a positive value and explores a wide range of imagery including Melville's great white whale in Moby-Dick, Huxley's reflections on mescaline in The Doors of Perception, and Huysmans’ gem-encrusted tortoise in À rebours. Batchelor's discussion on the use of colour in Pop, Minimalism and contemporary art addresses concerns that feature in his own artistic practice.

Batchelor’s powerful opening description of the obsessively white interior of an art collector’s home bears undoubtedly inspired the 2003 film Chromophobia directed by Martha Fiennes.

References

http://www.reaktionbooks.co.uk/book.html?id=43

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/index/fyfe/fyfe2-13-01.asp