Rebecca Baumann | Art Basel Hong Kong Encounters 2014
15.05 - 18.05
Starkwhite will present a kinetic work by Perth-based artist Rebecca Baumann at Art Basel Hong Kong from 15-18 May 2014. The work will be installed in Encounters, the section of the fair featuring 17 large-scale works selected by Yuko Hasegawa, chief curator of Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary and curator of the last Sharjah Biennale.
Automated Colour Field (Variation V) consists of a grid of 132 split-panel flip clocks, each with the number cards replaced with cards of solid colour. The result is a vast and affecting (and constantly changing) field of colour. Like changing numbers on a clock, the cards flip on each clock on the minute (on the right hand side) and on the hour (on the left hand side) – revealing the endless combinations of the palette. In this movement – this flipping – Baumann recognises the potential for suspense and expectation. We watch and wait, desiring to witness the moments when change occurs.
Baumann’s work demonstrates an intense interest in the potential of colour and the complex workings of workings of human emotion and the cultural rituals surrounding happiness and celebration. The title of the automated colour field works, and its link to the Gerhard Richter’s colour-chart series, points to a connection with painting. Yet while Baumann draws from an understanding of the art historical role of colour, her focus remains a study of how colour elicits emotions. Rather than prescribed definitions, she encourages more personal and intuitive responses; as the colours in the work change, so too do our responses. We easily make the connection between the minute-by-minute, colour shifts in the work and our constantly shifting feelings. In this way, Automated Colour Field describes a 24-hour emotional cycle.
The works are not intended as autobiographical narrative; indeed Baumann uses colour for its universal potential and asks us to question our own emotional associations to the colours within her work. The diagrammatic potential of the work also lends it irony. As we entertain the possibility of finding a formula for Emotional states (like happiness), Baumann makes connections to self-help and pop psychology textbooks, which also employ templates to teach readers about understanding, mastering and owning their emotions.
Rebecca Baumann’s participation in the Encounters section of Art Basel Hong Kong is with the assistance of the Artflight programme administered by Perth’s Department of Culture and Arts.
Rebecca Baumann (born 1983) live and works in Perth, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include: New Works (forthcoming), Starkwhite, Auckland, New Zealand (2014); Automated Monochrome, IMA@Ksubi, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (2012); Untitled State of Mind, Gallery ON, Poznan, Poland (2010); Action #1: Artists in response to City Spaces, Perth Cultural Centre, Perth, Australia, (2010); This Glorious Mess, Free Range Gallery, Perth, Australia (2009); and From the Beginning, one more time, Freemantle Arts Centre, Perth, Australia.
Selected group shows include: Romance Was Born/Rebecca Baumann, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia (2014); Burster, Flipper, Wobbler, Dripper, Spinner, Stacker, Shaker, Maker, curated by Justin Paton, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu, Christchurch, New Zealand (2013); Everyday Magic, curated by Bree Richards QAG|GOMA, Brisbane, Australia (2013); PICA Salon, curated by Leigh Robb, Perth Institute for Contemporary Arts, Perth, Australia; Bazinga!, curated by Robert Leonard, Starkwhite, Auckland, New Zealand (2013); First Among Equals (Part (1), curated by Leigh Robb, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, Australia; Contemporary Women: Australia, curated by Julie Ewington, QAG|GOMA, Brisbane, Australia (2012); Volume 1, curated by Glenn Barkley, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Australia (2102); Primavera, curated by Anna Davis, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia; and NEW11, curated by Hannah Matthews, Australia Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia.
Please contact the gallery for further information and images.