Paul Beumer at Dürst Britt & Mayhew

Artists: Paul Beumer

Exhibition title: Born from the flow of colour feeling

Venue: Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague, The Netherlands

Date: December 2, 2022– February 5, 2023

Photography: Gert Jan van Rooij & Esther Hovers / copyright the artist and courtesy by Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague

Note: an accompanying essay by Guus van Engelshoven, curator at the Museum De Domijnen in Sittard, can be found here

Paul Beumer is interested in researching the history and usage of fabrics and fibres within non-western cultures. To study these textile traditions he travels to far-flung places outside of Europe. For the past years Beumer has been living and working in China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka. He currently resides in India.

After Paul Beumer’s successful solo exhibition at Galeria GAM in Mexico City and presentations at Zona Maco and Art Cologne, a selection of his stunning kimono pieces is now being shown in The Netherlands for the first time.

For the exhibition ‘Born from the flow of colour feeling’ in the Frontspace at Dürst Britt & Mayhew Paul Beumer has made use of kimonos, the traditional dress of Japan. These garments are still worn in formal ceremonies such as weddings, graduations and funerals: life events where an important transformation is celebrated. However, Beumer does not focus his attention on the decorative, elaborate and symbolic designs on the outside, but instead looks inside at the humble linings, which sometimes happen to have a monochrome strip along the borders. He collects these to create assemblages that continue his interest in the composition of a landscape, but which at the same time show beautiful parts of a garment that are normally hidden from view and only known to the owner, who wears the soft textile close to the skin. The works therefore not only reference a natural landscape but also the sensual lines of a bodily landscape. As the secondhand kimonos have been (visibly) used and worn, the works also interweave many unknown personal histories, creating both a choir of colours and of voices.

Paul Beumer (1982) 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 and duo exhibitions include ‘As long as you know I am waiting, take your time flowers of the spring’ at GAM in Mexico City, ‘Frequently the woods are pink’ at Dürst Britt & Mayhew, ‘CONDO Mexico City’ at Proyecto Paralelo in Mexico City, ‘Paul Beumer & Willem Hussem’ at Museum Jan Cunen in Oss, ’New Seeds’ at 16by16 in Lagos, Nigeria, ‘Paint Wide Mouth White’ at Qingyun International Art Centre in Beijing, China. He participated in major group exhibitions at the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen, Museum De Paviljoens in Almere and the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Work by Paul Beumer is held in private and public collections, including Museum De Domijnen in Sittard, AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam; the collection of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague; The Academic Medical Centre Art Collection, Amsterdam; the Collection of the District Court of Law, Amsterdam; the Rattan Chadha Collection, Voorschoten, Netherlands.