Colour Blind Tests: Pseudo-Isochromatic Plates

[ Signed Edition of 12 or Each Piece]

Yukio Inouye’s Colour Blind series reimagines Shinobu Ishihara’s seminal 1917 colour vision tests, transforming them into a profound exploration of perception, limitation, and the human capacity to adapt. Through meticulously rendered archival prints, Inouye recreates the Pseudo-Isochromatic Plates, challenging viewers to confront the fragility and subjectivity of vision.

The series interrogates the boundaries between art and science, using the Ishihara tests as both aesthetic objects and functional tools. By replicating the original plates with precision, Inouye invites viewers to consider how we see - and fail to see - the world around us. The work becomes a metaphor for the ways in which we navigate limitations, both visible and unseen, and the resilience required to overcome them.

Produced using archival materials and best practices, each print is a testament to the enduring power of art to provoke thought and inspire transformation. The Colour Blind series not only pays homage to Ishihara’s scientific legacy but also expands its relevance, offering a meditation on the complexities of human perception in an increasingly fragmented world.

This series is a natural extension of Inouye’s broader artistic practice, which interrogates the intersections of perception, memory, and identity. Across his work, Inouye employs historical, psychological, and technological frameworks to challenge the ways in which we understand ourselves and the world. From his Blots (2022) series, which explores the fluidity of identity through Rorschach-inspired inkblots, to Reflective Quality (2022), which disrupts the viewer’s sense of self through mirrored surfaces, Inouye’s oeuvre consistently engages with themes of visibility, interpretation, and meaning. The Colour Blind series deepens this exploration, using the Ishihara tests as a lens to examine the biases and limitations that shape our realities.

Inouye’s work resonates with the practices of artists like Olafur Eliasson and James Turrell, who similarly investigate the subjective nature of perception. Eliasson’s immersive installations manipulate light, colour, and space to challenge viewers’ sensory experiences, while Turrell’s light-based works create environments that question the boundaries of vision. Like these artists, Inouye uses his work to provoke a deeper engagement with the ways we perceive and interpret the world. The Colour Blind series also aligns with contemporary discourses on the intersection of art and science, joining a lineage of artists who draw on scientific methodologies to explore human experience.