Gregory Cumin
dal 14/5/2012 al 18/5/2012
Segnalato da
14/5/2012
Gregory Cumin
UferHallen Berlin-Wedding, Berlin
Inside Out. Cumins presents a group of works here which he calls Still, created by applying acrylic to wood and then being covered with Indian ink.
The Invention of the Subject
Even when it does not instantly reveal its figurative elements, it is rather in the
nature of painting to contain an illusionistic moment which provokes the viewer to
reflect upon the means of enticement in order to counter the deception somewhat.
Not wishing to be deterred, the viewer tries to gain access to the painting in a way
that will either put paid to the superficial appearance or at least legitimize its power
by wresting an insight from it.
The question of subject, material, technique never reveals the whole truth, yet one
makes do, for the moment. Gregory Cumins presents a group of works here which
he calls Still, created by applying acrylic to wood and then being covered with
Indian ink. But what was originally applied here and what was subsequently
covered? Cumins uses photographs as a pretext that originally showed Iraqi children
in scenes captured by the American military suggesting peace, or at least
confidence in a normality which is actually out of the question, and of which the
paintings make no mention.
The meticulous transposition of the original – onto detailed, patterned fields of
colour – might serve as a demonstrative visualization of the object, were it not for
this second process of obfuscation, which diverts attention from the tempting
presence to the problematic mode of trying to recognize anything at all; something
that would otherwise be a sign of skilfulness is undermined by the question of how
we even dare create an image of a person.
Each and every mystification of the real shifts the emphasis to the conception itself,
yet this artist is certainly not engaging in wanton mystification of that which, in
apparently being conveyed directly, would be the plain truth. If this were the case,
the lie being spoken from the manipulative original photo would remain, whereas it
is in fact the pretence which forces the viewer to make an effort, to engage in a
cautious adaptation – which indeed urges the viewer to do so, in the sense that it
renders one comparable with and equal to the person whom one is looking at, an
individual whose movements are frozen in time.
In this methodical exaggeration of the phenomenal, the figure removed from
reality demands from us the respectful permeation of a darkness composed of a
fictional context as much as of convenient reception, of the world of news reports as
much as of precipitous agreement; it demands immersion in colour, which thus
becomes a medium of enlightenment.
Text by Andreas van Dühren
The french painter Gregory Cumins (born 1973 in Boulogne Billancourt, France)
lives and works in Berlin. He helds a diploma in sculpture with Richard Deacon of
the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Cumins has taken part in
various international exhibitions. His recent solo shows include: Les Abattoirs,
Avallon, Frankreich (2009); „Facebook“, Galerie Bertin- Toublanc, Miami, USA
(2008), „Entre Autres“ Galerie Bertin- Toublanc, Paris Frankreich. Recent group
shows:”SERIOUS GAMES- War-Media-Art” Curated by Antje Ehmann & Harun
Farocki, Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Deutschland (2011); “À distance / Behind the
Back of Richard Deacon”, Galerie Bernard Jordan, Paris, France (2008); „BP Portrait
Award 2006“, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK (2006).
Press: artpress – Ute Weingarten l Elisabethkirchstraße 15 l 10115 Berlin
+49 (0)30 2196 1843 l artpress@uteweingarten.de l www.artpress-uteweingarten.de
Opening: Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 6 pm
UferHallen
Uferstraße 8-11, 13357 Berlin
opening hours: 11 am-7 pm
Admission free