Paul Beumer at Dürst Britt & Mayhew

Artist: Paul Beumer

Exhibition title: Pilgrim discovering another world

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

Date: April 28 – June 15, 2024

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

Note: an accompanying conversation between the artist and Merel van Tilburg (assistant professor in Art History at the University of Groningen) is available here

For his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery Dürst Britt & Mayhew is proud to show a selection of textile works by Dutch artist Paul Beumer. This selection consists of works from when the artist first traveled to Asia in 2015, up to now. The exhibition will not so much form a retrospective, but act as an opportunity for Beumer’s pieces to interweave and enter into dialogue.

Each of the works in the exhibition was made with a different technique or fabric, depending on where the artist found himself at the moment of creation. After his residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam Beumer has never constricted himself to the confines of a studio practice. For his research into the history and usage of fabrics and fibres within non-western cultures he has lived and worked in China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and most recently India. Each of these locations has led to distinct series of works, which are now shown together for the first time. The exhibition will also premiere new pieces made in Sri Lanka and India.

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, ‘Born from the flow of colour feeling’ 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 Nieuwe Domein in Sittard, Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen, Museum De Paviljoens in Almere and Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. Work by Beumer is held in private and public collections, including Museum Het Nieuwe Domein, Sittard; the AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam; the Academic Medical Centre Art Collection, Amsterdam; the Collection of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague; the Collection of the District Court of Law, Amsterdam; the Rattan Chadha Collection, Voorschoten, Netherlands.