Exhibitions

Rebecca Baumann | New Work

27.11.19 - 21.12.19

We are pleased to present new works by Australian artist Rebecca Baumann from 27 November – 21 December 2019.

Baumann’s mesmerising works are shaped by her interest in psychology, sociology, and art history. Using light, colour and random pattern movement, she seeks to evoke a response, activating viewers’ emotions in fleeting and unexpected ways. Working across various media including installation, kinetic sculpture, and performance Baumann’s practice has produced both room-filling, immersive spaces and wall-based art works that arrest and intrigue. While earlier work has drawn on materials including cascades of golden tinsel, balloons, and smoke to offer a sense of occasion that varies from celebration to danger, it is colour that has remained a psychological constant throughout her practice.

‘I think of colour as being emotive in the sense that it has the ability to go beyond conscious thought, to create a heightened sense of feeling in the body’ Baumann has commented. Colour is commonly used among many cultures for communicating information and creating emotions. While the influence of some colours seems well known and widespread – red is said to increase the heartbeat and increase hunger – others are less so, and using colour to evoke a particular emotion is not a clear cut science. However, in the same way that many shoppers are driven by emotional rather than rational forces when it comes to making decisions, colour shapes human behaviour and influences perception. The Rose of Temperaments was a colour diagram devised by the German writer and statesman Goethe in the late 18th century. The diagram detailed the affective qualities of colours, matching 12 colours to human occupations or their character traits (tyrants, heroes, adventurers, hedonists, lovers, poets, public speakers, historians, teachers, philosophers, pedants, rulers), grouped in the four bodily humors or temperaments. Our contemporary visual landscape is no less immune, note the propensity of primary colours (especially red, blue, and yellow) most commonly used for superheroes, while a palette of secondary colours is employed for the villains and baddies on our screens. Colour is a language speaking to us in ways we are not always aware of.

The intimate relationship between colour and emotion is joined by movement and time as critical factors in Rebecca Baumann’s practice. Her art works are never still, they ripple, flip, or burst in visually demonstrative examples of the passing of time. Often working with simple mechanisms, Baumann attempts to manipulate and programme the action to a certain point, then let the materials take over. Baumann’s new kinetic works are created using flip-dot displays, an electro-magnetic signage originally created for the stock market. As the early technology audibly flips and alters, colour constellations and automatic drawings form. Stripping this outdated technology of its function, the artist has reimagined it as a choreography where control gives way to movement and unexpectedly still intervals, the chance configurations of colour and pattern feeding anticipation for what comes next. In action the works feels like a code or pulse is being transmitted, one communicated in colour, sound, and motion.

Joined in the gallery by a work composed of 48 small watercolours, Baumann continues her unconstrained exploration of time and movement across varying forms. Moments in Movement (2019) begins and ends in monochrome, but in-between a pink rectangle rotates through various postures, seeming to pivot and swoop across the series of sheets. Baumann has toyed with the perception of motion before, creating kinetic objects, optical illusions, and displacing the audience while the work remains still. Interested in creating something that offered a sense of movement and time for this new work, Baumann drew on the film industry standard of 24 frames per second, doubling this across 48 sheets to suggest and create visual stimulus in a static object. The exhibition is framed by an intervention on the gallery windows, where strips of transparent coloured film form a frame looking out onto the street. Overlapping in the corners and illuminated by the incoming light, colours mix, blending and bending to form new combinations, relationships and affects.

Rebecca Baumann (born 1983) lives and works in Perth, Australia. Recent solo exhibitions include: Window Work, (Intersections and Notations), National Gallery of Victoria (2018); Rebecca Baumann, Untitled, (exploded view), Dunedin Public Art Gallery (2017); 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, Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth, Australia (2009).

Selected group shows include: Kaleidoscope Abstract Aotearoa, Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand (2018); Set in Motion, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (2106); New Romance, MMCA, Seoul (2015); Encounters, curated by Yuko Hasegawa, Art Basel Hong Kong (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); Bazinga!, curated by Robert Leonard, Starkwhite, Auckland, New Zealand (2013); First Among Equals (Part 1), curated by Leigh Robb, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, Australia (2012); Contemporary Australia: Women, curated by Julie Ewington et al, QAG|GOMA, Brisbane, Australia (2012); Volume 1,curated by Glenn Barkley, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, Australia (2012);Primavera, curated by Anna Davis, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (2011);and NEW11, curated by Hannah Matthews, Australia Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia (2011).

Rebecca Baumann | New Work | STARKWHITE
Exhibitions

Current

Past

Paul Davies | Still Frame

24.10 - 24.11

Billy Apple® | Progressives and Other Self-Portraits

31.08 - 12.10

Marti Friedlander | Starting Point for a Complicated Story

12.07 - 24.08

John Reynolds | Some Greater Plan (for Claire)

04.06 - 06.07

Fiona Pardington | Te taha o te rangi

16.04 - 25.05

Gordon Walters | History

09.02 - 31.03

Whitney Bedford, Bill Henson, Ani O'Neill, Jonny Niesche, and Fiona Pardington | Sampler 2024

09.02 - 31.03

Jamie Te Heuheu | Quiet Thoughts and Quiet Dreams

23.11.23 - 13.01.24

Bill Henson | The Liquid Night

23.11.23 - 31.01.24

Clinton Watkins | Depth of Field

20.10.23 - 19.11.23

Bonco | Star Stare Start

20.10.23 - 19.11.23

Gordon Walters by Francis Pound | Book Launch

14.09.23

Curated by Jonny Niesche | Ümwelt

01.09.23 - 07.10.23

Richard Maloy | Raw

27.07.23 - 27.08.23

Petra Cortright | micro lemon diamond realm

07.07.23 - 26.08.23

Jonny Niesche | You say sfumato, I say sfumato

12.05.23 - 27.06.23

Billy Apple® | Divine Proportion

23.02.23 - 08.04.23

Gerold Miller, Gordon Walters | Miller meets Walters

08.12.23 - 31.01.23

FuckCancer_DontDelayFun | Blind Auction

27.10.22 - 05.11.22

John Reynolds | APOCALYPSEoCLOCK

21.10.22 - 01.12.22

Whitney Bedford | Imaginary

30.08.22 - 15.10.22

Seung Yul Oh | Huggong-Monologue

09.07.22 - 20.08.22

Gerold Miller

01.06.22 - 02.07.22

Bill Henson | Selected Works

30.04.22 - 29.05.22

Layla Rudneva-Mckay | I Roll

15.02.22 - 19.03.22

Fiona Pardington | Tarota

16.11.21 – 18.12.21

Fiona Pardington | Tarota Preview

05.10.21 – 07.10.21

Jan van der Ploeg | The Other Window

17.08.21 – 12.10.21

Laith McGregor | Second Wind

03.07.21 – 07.08.21

Richard Maloy | Maternal Routine

03.06.21 - 19.06.21

Bill Henson | 1985-2021

21.05.21 - 19.06.21

Martin Basher | Birds of Paradise

13.04.21 - 14.05.21

Will Cooke | Every Wall Is A Door

15.01.21 - 13.02.21

Jonny Niesche | Poikilos

17.11.20 - 22.12.20

Gemma Smith | Thin Air

06.10.20 - 07.11.20

Whitney Bedford, Petra Cortright, Kirsten Everberg, Judy Ledgerwood | Slippery Painting

01.09.20 - 03.10.20

Jin Jiangbo, John Reynolds | Performative Geographies

14.07.20 - 15.08.20

Group Show | Sampler 2020

14.05.20 - 06.06.20

Gordon Walters | From the Archive

05.02.20 - 07.03.20

Richard Maloy | Studio: Space & Time

28.01.20 - 01.02.20

Rebecca Baumann | New Work

27.11.19 - 21.12.19

The Estate of L. Budd et al. | the artists in conversation

22.10.19 - 16.11.19

John Reynolds | The Art of Wine

14.10.19

Billy Apple® and Tāme Iti | Flagged

08.10.19 - 12.10.19

Clinton Watkins | binary

19.09.19 - 03.11.19

Yuk King Tan | Crisis of the Ordinary

21.08.19 - 14.09.19

Group Show | Sampler 2019

23.07.19 - 15.08.19

Fiona Pardington | TIKI: Orphans of Māoriland

12.06.19 - 11.07.19

Laith McGregor | AM/PM/AM

09.05.19 - 08.06.19

BILLY APPLE® is N=One

11.04.19 - 05.05.19

Ani O'Neill | Classic Hits

14.03.19 - 10.04.19

Alicia Frankovich | Microchimerism

08.02.19 - 06.03.19

Martin Basher | One Week Stand

24.01.19 - 02.02.19

The Estate of L.Budd_et al.

11.12.18 - 22.12.18, 02.01.19 - 12.01.19

Gavin Hipkins | Block Units

14.11.18 - 08.12.18

John Stezaker | Collages

09.10.18 - 03.11.18

Grant Stevens | The Mountain and the Waterfalls

01.09.18 - 29.09.18

Whitney Bedford | Bohemia

31.07.18 - 24.08.18

Seung Yul Oh | Horizontal Loop

26.06.18 - 28.07.18

Gordon Walters | From the Walters Estate

29.05.18 - 16.06.18

Group Show | Sampler 2018

17.04.18 - 26.05.18

Alicia Frankovich, Ani O’Neill, The Estate of L Budd, et al. | 125

13.03.18 - 07.04.18

Len Lye | Love Springs Eternal

07.02.18 - 07.03.18

Richard Maloy | Things I have Seen

22.12.17

Michael Zavros | The Silver Fox

17.11.17 - 16.12.17

John Reynolds | RocksInTheSky...

17.11.17 - 24.12.17

Martin Basher | Devil at the Gates of Heaven

10.10.17 - 04.11.17

Daniel von Sturmer | Luminous Figures

02.09.17 - 30.09.17

Martin Basher | Hawaiian Tropic

01.08.17 - 26.08.17

Fiona Pardington | Nabokov's Blues: The Charmed Circle

23.06.17 - 23.07.17

John Reynolds | FrenchBayDarkly…

17.05.17 - 17.06.17

Group Show | On the Grounds

02.03.17 - 08.04.17

Billy Apple® | Art Transactions

08.02.17 - 04.03.17

Gavin Hipkins, Jin Jiangbo, Danie Mellor | Beyond Landscape

17.11.16 - 17.12.16

Laith McGregor | Swallow the Sun

01.10.16 - 12.11.16

Matt Henry | Analogues

19.09.16 - 14.10.16

John Reynolds | WalkWithMe...

30.08.16 - 24.09.16

Daniel Crooks | Vanishing Point

03.08.16 - 27.18.16

Gavin Hipkins, Richard Maloy, Daniel von Sturmer | Material Candour

05.07.16 - 22.07.16

Layla Rudneva-Mackay | Running Towards Water

07.06.16 - 08.07.16

Fiona Pardington | 100% Unicorn

24.05.16 - 25.06.16

Clinton Watkins | lowercase

19.04.16 - 18.05.16

Whitney Bedford 2016 | Lost and Found

15.03.16 - 14.04.16

Fiona Clark | For Pink Pussycat Club as part of THE BILL

20.02.16 - 22.04.16

Alicia Frankovich | The Female has Undergone Several Manifestations

06.02.16 - 05.03.16

Fiona Pardington | The Popular Recreator

11.12.15 - 23.12.15

Gavin Hipkins | Block Paintings

04.11.15 - 05.12.15

Gordon Walters | Gouaches and a Painting from the 1950s

21.09.15 - 24.10.15

Fiona Pardington | Childish Things

12.08.15 - 19.09.15

Rebecca Baumann, Brendan Van Hek, Alicia Frankovich, Len Lye, László Moholy-Nagy and Grant Stevens | In Motion

10.07.15 - 08.08.15

Grant Stevens | Hold Together, Fall Apart

07.07.15 - 02.08.15

Laith McGregor | Somewhere Anywhere

02.06.15 - 04.07.15

Arnold Manaaki Wilson, Billy Apple® | TOTEM | curated by Mary Morrison

01.05.15 - 30.05.15

Martin Basher | Jizzy Velvet

03.02.15 - 14.03.15

John Reynolds | BLUTOPIA

19.12.14

Seung Yul Oh | memmem

31.10.14 - 06.12.14

Gavin Hipkins | Erewhon

31.10.14 - 29.11.14

Rebecca Baumann | Once More With Feeling

19.09.14 - 18.10.14

Michael Zavros | Bad Dad

02.06.14 - 28.06.14

THE ANALYSIS OF BILLY APPLE®

05.05.14 - 10.05.14

Jin Jiangbo, Stella Brennan, Billy Apple, Trenton Garratt, Seung Yul Oh, John Reynolds, Layla Rudneva-Mackay, Jim Speers, Yuk King Tan and Wang Dawei | SIGNALS

08.08.14 - 13.09.14

Layla Rudneva-Mackay | Blue Squares, Purple Pairs

17.03.14 - 12.04.14

Curated by Martin Basher | Lovers

06.02.14 - 06.03.14

Glen Hayward | I don't want you to worry about me

06.12.13 - 31.01.14

Matt Henry | High Fidelity

16.11.13 - 14.12.13

Li Xiaofei | Assembly Line - Entrance

03.10.13 - 26.10.13

Richard Maloy | All the things I did

04.09.13 - 30.09.13

John Reynolds | Vagabondage

22.08.13 - 21.09.13

Clinton Watkins | Frequency Colour

25.07.13 - 16.08.13

Curated by Robert Leonard | BAZINGA!

11.05.13 - 08.06.13

Whitney Bedford | This for That

09.04.13 - 04.05.13

Jin Jiangbo | Rules of Nature

08.03.13 - 04.04.13

Martin Basher | Solo Exhibition

05.02.2013 - 02.03.13

Ross Manning | Field Emissions

29.11.12 - 22.12.12, 15.01.13 - 22.01.13

Seung Yul Oh | HUGGONG

23.10.12 - 17.11.12

Jae Hoon Lee | Antarctic Fever

18.09.12 - 13.10.12

Curated by Brian Butler | Greetings from Los Angeles: Eight Artists

10.07.12 - 06.08.12