COLOUR RESTRAINT

2015

Visual Arts, Workshops

Artist/s: Brendan Van Hek (NSW), Rebecca Baumann (WA)

Campbelltown Arts Centre presented Colour Restraint in 2015, a selection of works by Australian artists, Rebecca Baumann and Brendan Van Hek.

The artists’ longstanding friendship and attention to choreographed experience was deliberately conjured through the pairing of their works, with forms traversing video, installation and drawing. Their agendas are simultaneously pursued in the possibilities of neon, reflection and the density of materials as Colour Restraint transformed the gallery space, which created a specific experience and new meaning for the audience.

Colour Restraint debuted the artists’ first collaborative work, commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre. The work took on an architectural scale that redefined space and affected movement through the gallery. The coloured reflective surfaces combined and interacted to create new layers of colour and an expanded sense of space. The new commission was featured alongside existing works, exploring a shared intent to approach colour, light, surrealism, dreams, illusions and social experiences in a decisive manner as the artists combined practices in new and exciting ways.

Education and Public Programs:. Colour Restraint was enthusiastically received by young audiences, offering multi-sensory experiences that engaged very young infants and their families. The exhibition further fascinated young people and their teachers with visually powerful works which challenged audience perception and stimulated classroom learning around areas such as curatorial methods, colour and emotion, and audience interaction. Several exhibition visits were complimented by workshops with artists Giselle Stanborough and Leahlani Johnson. A high school creative arts excursion day was organised during Colour Restraint, for 70 year 8 students to experiment with multiple.