Regine Schumann, Colormirror

From 31/10/2018 To 26/01/2019

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 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 color and cinevisual research.
The work of Regine Schumann explores the relationship between color, light, and architecture through light panels – a sort of monolith with vibrant colors – that offer viewers an evocative sensorial experience.
Regine Schumann’s sculptures are created to interact with light: the fluorescent colors of the works change with sunlight and depending on the viewing point. The artist describes her work thusly: “The colored 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 color”.
Her color compositions are inspired by Goethe’s color theory, based on the fact that colors come alive from the interaction of light and darkness; aware of this bond, in some cases the artist uses black light to add vigor and energy to the colors 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 colors that penetrate and reflect one another, or reverberate, making the wok immaterial, as if it were an emanation of pure color. Engaged in a two-fold visual experience (day/natural and night/artificial), the viewer is invited to question the vast possibilities of the color 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.