12/12/2008
Christiane Baumgartner
Spacex, Exeter
Solaris. The exhibition will comprise of a new body of work. The images demonstrate Baumgartner's fascination with speed and the passage of time, a recurring theme throughout the work. This notion of time is also embodied in her artistic process, which involves the lengthy and painstaking medium of woodcut.
Spacex is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of work by German artist Christiane Baumgartner. Baumgartner lives and works in Leipzig, a German city famous for printmaking. She is well known for her monumental monochrome woodcuts taken from her own film and video stills.
The exhibition will comprise of a new body of work which includes Solaris I, Solaris III, Solaris IV, 2008, Deutscher Wald, 2007 and Final Cut, 2006. The images demonstrate Baumgartner’s fascination with speed and the passage of time, a recurring theme throughout the work. This notion of ‘time’ is also embodied in her artistic process, which involves the lengthy and painstaking medium of woodcut.
The imagery portrayed is often referred to as banal and mundane, and focuses on the everyday world in motion. We are presented with cars on a motorway, aeroplanes on a runway and passages through forests. The starkly lit road tunnels in Solaris are familiar yet appear strangely empty and static, and have the grainy quality of cctv footage or black and white television. In contrast, Final Cut combines attractive images of the sky and clouds reminiscent of holiday photographs with woodcuts of vapour trails taken from wartime footage. A sense of unease permeates the work as a military presence punctures the picturesque qualities of the sunsets.
Central to her vision is the drawing together of various visual media, both old and new. Video, photography, computers, television and printing techniques are all used to convey her themes in an entirely original manner.
This exhibition has been organised with Johan Deumens Gallery, The Netherlands and in association with Alan Cristea Gallery, London.
Press contact:
Mandy Barber, Exhibitions & Marketing Co-ordinator tel: 01392 431786 email: mandy@spacex.org.uk
Spacex
45 Preston Street - Exeter
Tues - Sat, 10am - 5pm
Free admission