PRESS RELEASE
Hanneke Beaumont: New Works
May 16 – Aug 17, 2008
New works in terracotta, bronze, cast iron, and original drawings by the renowned Dutch sculptor whose works grace important private collections and public spaces throughout the world.
Why do we need images? Why has humankind been re-creating reality since ancient times? The answer is that we respond to visual forms, and draw conclusions from them that are not merely conceptual. Seeing the works by Hanneke Beaumont is a deeply personal and introspective experience. They often represent solitude, dealing with individual feelings of isolation, reflection, and the search for a sense of self. Intense and contemplative, wary and detached, Beaumont’s figures often evolve into self-symbols, as they metamorphose under the lens of our own life experiences.
Hanneke Beaumont was born in Maastricht, The Netherlands, in 1947. She started her artistic studies in 1977 at the Académie de Braine l’Alleud, then at La Cambre & in Anderlecht. She received her first solo exhibition in 1983.
An important turn in her career happened in 1994. when she was awarded, for her sculpture group “Le Courage”, the major award of the Centre International d’Art Contemporain Chateau Beychevelle. Shortly after, she participated in the second Exposicion Internacional de Esculturas en la Calle, organized by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Canarias in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where her work was permanently installed. Many other public and private collectors have manifested great interest in her work. She now enjoys an international reputation with exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland. Hanneke currently works in Brussels and in Pietra Santa, Italy.
The most compelleing thing about Hanneke’s work is the process itself. The sheer size, the unusual technique of building great hollow figures out of earth and fire, and the medium of sculpting in bronze make their presence felt in the finished work, constantly reminding the viewer of the infinitely patient manual process that brought these figures into being. . The artistic process for this distinguished sculptor is a meaningful action, as though she were shaping not a likeness, not a decorative element to be placed in a public garden, but a candid statement, a declaration of willingness to probe into the depth of psychological and emotional reality that lies beyond the physical one.
Please join us for a unique opportunity to see many new works by Hanneke Beaumont in large, medium and smaller scale, as well as meet the artist herself.
During the exhibition we will premier the definitive monograph on the Dutch sculptor, with essays by international art critic Robert C. Morgan.
OPENING RECEPTIONS TO BE HELD AT OUR LEGACY VILLAGE LOCATION
To receive images of the works, more information or to arrange media interviews with Hanneke Beaumont, please contact Steve Hartman at 216.382.7800 at the gallery, or on his cell phone 216.956.2825.