With Colormirror, the first solo show in Italy by Regine Schumann, the Dep Art gallery in Milan continues with its research and promotion of mid-career artists with important international experience.
With a considerable body of work, of mid and large dimensions (the formats vary from 80 to 240 cm in height), the exhibition presents from 30 October to 26 January the latest works by an artist who is considered, in virtue of her experiments with acrylic materials, one of the most important innovators in the field of colour and cinevisual research.
The work of Regine Schumann explores the relationship between colour, light, and architecture through light panels—a sort of monolith with vibrant colours—that offer viewers an evocative sensorial experience.
Schumann's sculptures are created to interact with light: the fluorescent colours of the works change with sunlight and depending on the viewing point. The artist describes her work thusly: 'The coloured and fluorescent acrylic glass plays, in my work, an important role. The material I use lights up as soon as it receives light energy, either natural or artificial. Depending on the position, the different panels create different layers, combinations, and selection of light and colour'.
Her colour compositions are inspired by Goethe's colour theory, based on the fact that colours come alive from the interaction of light and darkness; aware of this bond, in some cases the artist uses black light to add vigour and energy to the colours that, unexpectedly, shimmer and become bold.
Architecture is the third fundamental element that rounds of this artist's work. In fact, her site-specific installations modify the existing space, giving it a vibrating dimension and—as she herself calls it—an environmental 'temperature'. In this regard, Alberto Zanchetta, the exhibition curator, writes: 'The works of Regine Schumann mark off a physical space that alters and redefines the environment in which they are contained. The acrylic glass surfaces resort to colours that penetrate and reflect one another, or reverberate, making the work immaterial, as if it were an emanation of pure colour. Engaged in a two-fold visual experience (day/natural and night/artificial), the viewer is invited to question the vast possibilities of the colour spectrum with respect to the physiological limits imposed by the human eye. The disorienting effect of the fluorescence is achieved thanks to the synthesis of the front, rear, and perimeter surfaces that absorb or reflect light, subjecting sight to imperceptible changes, which are at times gradual or even sudden. But in any case, surprising'.
The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual volume (Italian-English) published by Dep Art and edited by Alberto Zanchetta and Antonio Addamiano, containing the curator's text, the reproduction of all works on display, installation views in the gallery, and an updated bio-bibliography.
Regine Schumann studied art from 1982 to 1989 at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig. In 1989, she became a Masters student of Roland Dörfler. From 1986 to 1994 she was a member of the artist group Freiraum, consisting in Frank Fuhrmann, Dieter Hinz, and herself. In addition to numerous scholarships (including a DAAD-scholarship for Italy in 1990 and a grant from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for Japan in 2000) and commissions for public artworks, she received the Leo Breuer Prize in 2006. In her practice, Regine Schumann focuses on the effects of light caused by fluorescent materials. Some of the materials she uses are coloured polylight-cords and different coloured acrylic panels, which she assembles into complex colour spaces in accordance to Goethe's theory of colours. The artist also uses blacklight to complement other colours. The emphasis of her room-specific installations is the extension of the existing architecture into a dimension of vibration and–as she calls it–the configuration of a room temperature: 'The inclusion of sculptural principles as hanging, laying, arranging, conjointing, jacketing is characteristic of the work of Regine Schumann and leads towards a thinking in colours and colour spaces in a spatially experiential plasticity.' Regine Schumann describes her method of operation thusly: 'It's the material of the colored and fluorescent acrylic glass that takes an important role in my work. The material used illuminates when light energy is supplied to it, whether in the form of natural daylight or artificial light. Differently coloured plates depending on the location lead towards a candling, laying, blending, and selection of the light itself.'
Opening in Milan in 2006 with Mario Nigro’s solo exhibition Opere di Mario Nigro, Dep Art Gallery presents compelling artworks by modern and contemporary Italian and international artists. The gallery moved into its current location in Via Comelico, a former school with substantial exhibition spaces, in 2015. Dedicated to presenting contemporary Italian art, Dep Art Gallery has also been the Turi Simeti archive centre—archiving the artist’s legacy and producing a catalogue raisonne of artworks on canvas—since 2013.
