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PRESS RELEASE
Christian Schumann
Levels, Platforms, Paths, and Obstacles
October 11 through November 8, 2003
Dunn and Brown Contemporary is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Christian Schumann. The opening of the exhibition will take place on Saturday, October 11, 2003 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The exhibition will continue through Saturday, November 8, 2003.
Levels, Platforms, Paths, and Obstacles marks the first solo exhibition of Schumann’s work in Texas. Born in Rhode Island, Schumann moved to Texas as a young child and graduated from Dallas’ prestigious Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 1988. The artist continued his education on the west coast, receiving a B.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992 and participating in the AICA New York Studio Program. He currently lives and works in New York.
Schumann’s works on paper are inspired by the controlled utopian environments of video games. As a result, these colorful works have an almost dreamlike quality. Schumann considers the art viewer and the game player to be one in the same in the context of viewing his work. Game levels and characters are designed to cater to the style and desires of the player/viewer and result in a contemporary form of exotica. The act of playing video games mirrors both the experience of viewing art as well as the impetus to make art that creates a secret, personal space. The drawings themselves are impressions of the subconscious desire of gaming architecture. The viewer is soothed by emersion into a world of cultural signals, solvable problems, and escapist scenarios.
Schumann creates dazzling city-scapes and memorable creatures with his arresting use of color and impressive detail work. Some of the drawings or game levels present an idyllic utopia while others project an underlying menacing quality. Dainty Outlaw, one of these darker works features an armed, but seemingly naive pink creature, the outlaw. While this character appears to contemplate his next move, an ominous hand creeps into the lower left hand corner of the drawing foreshadowing the unsavory consequences our main character may face. A sunnier view of this parallel universe of video games is presented in Squirt Boss. Unlike many of the works which overflow with chaotic activity and a cast of characters, this work features a single character closely resembling a bloated yet, cuddly internal organ. The colors in this piece lean toward serene blues and vibrant yellows adding to the escapist fantasy. All of the works succeed in transporting the viewer/player to some unknown plane where imagination has no limits.
Please contact Elizabeth Phy at the gallery for additional information or to request visuals. Dunn and Brown Contemporary is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 until 5:00 p.m. and by appointment.