Caspar Baum Art
Over the past years, Caspar and I had the opportunity to do a number of projects together; most of them involved travel and some form of artistic interaction. Our admiration for the Orient took us among other places mainly to China, and it is no wonder that we were attracted both to the scenery and the art of this amazing culture.
By naming his new work “Garden of Harmony”, “Zen” and “Cherry Tree”, there is an immediate connotation to the world he wants us to see through his eyes. But more importantly, it is the atmosphere, the different world, the quietness and the meditative way of feeling things - turning inside and trying to establish harmony and balance - that he conveys with every brush stroke.
I see that Caspar is balancing the allocation of subjects with unobstructed backgrounds in his work. Some areas are blur allowing us to perceive them in any preferred form - being anything from a forest, a valley, to a surface of a stone wall -, while other areas allocated on the canvas become distinct objects such as a tree, part of a temple, the edge of a bush or the Great Wall. And it is these changes from undefined material to condensed structure that highlight details with shadow, contrast and white reflection.
His “Mongolia” views inspired by the first aerial impressions a passenger gets in the early morning just before landing in Beijing remind me of the diary of a traveler. This particular diary has no words, it has paintings that “describe” the landscapes that welcome you to China; battered landscapes in incessant transformations of colour and shape - white with snow, red with dust, brown when dry or gold like a desert. And this natural vastness, is brilliantly complemented by a man-made structure, the Great Wall - parts of it well-retained, parts of it just ruins- that bravely intrudes into this wonder and finally integrates with it.
Caspar’s paintings depict his recent artistic journeys and influence that China has had on him, by exerting the elements of travel, fascination, discovery, and cultural interaction. With this exhibition, he once again wants to share with us his stories and experiences, and his story-telling is just magical and mystic.
George Karamanos, Abu Dhabi
