Hardback, fully illustrated, 80 pages, W310 x H245mm
This catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition of work by German artist Christiane Baumgartner at Ikon Gallery from 27 July – 18 September 2005. Exemplifying her preoccupation with the passage of time, not only in the subject of her work, but also embodied in its process, the show consisted mainly of works on paper, woodcut prints, photography and video.
Based in Leipzig, a city famous for printmaking, Baumgartner acknowledges the tradition she springs from whilst developing an extraordinarily distinct practice. Her woodcuts originate from videos made of various forms of mechanical motion, often focusing on subjects such as cars, aeroplanes, and wind farms, which are then digitally reworked into a linear grid to form the basis for a wood block, incised with individual lines, and eventually used to print the image by hand.
This catalogue includes a broad display of the woodcut prints, as well as colour stills from several of the artist’s videos Stück Lautlos I, Speed, Floor One and Grid. Also included is an essay by Jeannette Stoschek, Curator at the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig. This text explores the concepts and themes behind Baumgartner’s current work through a biographical look at her background and training. This comprises a short consideration of her early work as a student at the Academy in Leipzig and later at the Royal College of Art, and also a discussion of her early video works, with particular focus on an autobiographical piece made in 1999, Klassenkameraden (Classmates).