About
Bartha Contemporary is proud to announce the forthcoming exhibition of works by Stephan Baumkötter (DE, 1958 - ) + Rudolf de Crignis (CH / USA, 1948 2006). The exhibition will feature selected paintings and works on paper, demonstrating the distinct characteristics of these exceptional artists and their significant contribution to contemporary painting.
Please join us for the private view on Saturday January 15, 2011, from 3 to 5 PM.
The exhibition will be on view until March 26 2011.
Over the past four decades, abstract painting has often been categorized as Minimalist, Non-objective, in some cases as Colour-field, Radical or simply Monochromatic. Despite the fact that the works of de Crignis and Baumkötter have often been exhibited within such contextual frameworks, their practices have always been somewhat outside the realms of these insubstantial terminologies. The purpose of this exhibition is to showcase their unique independent careers and to explore the similarities of their working practices, which resulted in distinctly dissimilar works.
The artists were life-long friends, sharing an admiration for each other's work, signified by an approach and process that has more in common with the act of performance-art of the early sixties rather than the singular methodology of painting. At the heart of this practice, exceptional care and detail and attention are given to the conception of a work, signified by each artist's choice of materials and methods.
De Crignis's process begins with a carefully prepared canvas, onto which the artist applied layer upon layer of paint, using a variety of brushes, alternating the brushstroke direction for each layer from horizontal to vertical, either by changing the direction of the brushstroke or by physically turning the canvas. Often changing colour from layer to layer, de Crignis built up dense colour-spaces, which at first appear monochrome. These seemingly infinite colour-spaces are concerned with light, space and colour. The work, the light, and finally the viewer's perception come together to form the total experience of these works. As de Crignis wrote, Experience makes them."
