Language-Color is a series of experimental paintings by Chinese Artist Huang Rui that explores the relationship between text and color, language and visual experience.

Language-Color, as the name implies, is the text in color and the color in text. Since the 1990s, Huang Rui’s textual paintings have explored the relationship between text and color, increasing the focus on the visual attributes in the experience of painting. In 2006, Huang Rui created Four Reds. At that time, he was acting as the founder and planner for the 798 Art District in Beijing and would often hear the expression “red-hot!” when people referred to the 798 excitement. This intrigued him. The shades of color in this expression reflect the absurdity of changing tastes. In Chinese, the number “four” is a homophone for “death,” and so “four reds” can be read as “die red.” Chinese people have always thought that red is the symbol of vitality, blood, passion, and joy. Chinese people always give red the positive descriptions and ornaments of power. This group of paintings represents Huang Rui’s focus on the connection between language, the color of language, and the order of time in his paintings.