Bauman

Jane Bauman

MFA
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, CA

BA
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA

The paintings in this exhibition trace the evolution of a concept to make a visual narrative from both the abstract and the non-objective; to tell a type of story that can only be expressed with images. It’s a bit of an irony that many of the pieces have a codex/book-page quality and are made from materials originally intended to produce the printed word. The paintings were made with oil and enamel paint on recycled commercial aluminum lithography plates. These materials give a sculptural aspect to the paintings and I think of my surfaces as patina as well as picture plane.

My work has been deeply influenced by Medieval French and Italian illuminated manuscripts – a period of history when most of the population was illiterate. I find the art of so-called ‘pre’ or ‘non-literate’ cultures very powerful and I like the sculptural quality of many early books and scrolls.

Some of my painting techniques are adapted from illuminated manuscript techniques, such as working on hard grounds with incised surfaces. I also use techniques developed by the mid-twentieth century Op and Pop artists. The art of Bridget Riley, Agnes Martin and Gerhard Richter have been tremendous inspirations. The illusionistic, idealized sphere is my interpretation of Plato’s notion of singular perfect forms in the mind of the Godhead. I am fascinated by Rorschach images and have made hundreds of them in the last year.

This exhibition was named after a book by the late Terence McKenna. The paintings in it were inspired by his courage and audacity to speak truth to power by the most aesthetic means he could command.

Languid, 2005 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 23" x 27"	Hands with Arrows, 2005 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 12" x 12"
Sphere with Collar, 2007 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 20 x 20"	Sphere with Turquois Grid, 2007 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 20" x 20"
Sphere - White Grid, 2006 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 20" x 22"	Backbone, 2007 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 8" x 20"
Progress, 2006 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 8" x 16"	Aquaflow, 2007 Oil and enamel paint on aluminum 8" x 34"