“Paint wide mouth white”
residency in Qingyun art zone
Paul Beumer’s painterly practice oscillates freely between figuration and abstraction with a specific focus on the relationship and dichotomies between Western and Asian approaches to landscape painting. Steering away from the conventions of the brush and canvas his current works, made with ink on loose cloth, engage ancient tie-dye techniques to create absorbing universes.
Paul Beumer: ‘It took me some time to realise that I am no longer painting paintings but that I am making paintings. I am investigating and inventing techniques to make abstract paintings that suggest and evoke natural processes. Clear themes or narratives are lacking, as I want for the paintings to be self-referential and autonomous.
During my residency in Qingyun art zone I investigated the techniques of tie-dye and ‘shibori’, the Japanese technique of resist dying; pieces of cloth are folded in a specific way, tied up and then dyed in Chinese ink. The visual outcome is more systematic and components are more clearly defined than in my previous works. Resemblances with the works of Agnes Martin or Frank Stella may arise, but more as a faded memory of those ‘high art’ pieces of work made in the abstract era. The use of cloth and ink is a way of focusing on intrinsic values and ignoring material hierarchy and unlike paint on canvas, on these cloths black can just be black and patterns can just be patterns. When marks are just marks they communicate only their existence and force viewers to be creative in their search for meaning.
The title ‘Paint wide mouth white’ comes from a poem by Gregory Corso, one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation. I like the mystery of this small collection of words. They seem to speak of communication; maybe that painting can reach further and wider than expected.’
Paul Beumer (1982, NL) received his BFA from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague after which he completed a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘In the shade of the elms and willows, my friends drink until they are inspired’ at Goethe Pavillon, Palais Schardt in Weimar; ‘Dry Landscape’ at the Chinese European Art Centre (CEAC) in Xiamen; ‘I won’t have the luxury of seeing scenes like this much longer’ at Dürst Britt & Mayhew in The Hague and ‘Tomorrow’s Harvest’ at Bosse & Baum in London. Forthcoming exhibitions include ‘Liquid Mountain’ at Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen and ‘Black’ at Museum Kranenburgh in Ber gen, Netherlands. Work by Beumer is held in private and public collections, including the AKZO Nobel Art Foundation; the collection of the District Court of Law in Amsterdam; and the KRC Collection in Voorschoten. Beumer is living and working in Taipei and The Hague.
