Stig Baumgartner @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki - "Pyramid and Superego" Exhibition

Stig Baumgartner 

Pyramid and Superego 

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki 

March 28 – May 4, 2025 

The title of Stig Baumgartner’s new exhibition, Pyramid and Superego, alludes to hierarchical structures. The vibrantly colorful geometrical structures in his paintings are like monuments placed upon pedestals, some of them proudly balanced, others wobbly and imperfect. The artist describes monuments as images of social order; in his paintings, they embody either stability or turmoil.

Stig Baumgartner’s paintings typically possess a human or corporeal presence. Their architectural composition can be interpreted as mirroring the structures of the human mind or the concept of being human. Baumgartner’s art characteristically presents dialogues of opposites, combining expressive, calligraphic brushwork with precise, harmonious composition.

In the making of this exhibition, Stig Baumgartner found himself reflecting on artistic expression and career trajectory as a kind of monument in its own right. Work by work, the artist builds an increasingly sophisticated and unique structure of expression. At the apex shines a liberated peak that is built upon earlier works, both artist's own and those of other artists, and also upon the traditions of evolving art discourses. Each painting is always a unique event that combines acquired knowledge with personal experience. Artistic expression is invariably built upon a foregoing legacy, which can be either a burden or a liberation. Leaning towards the latter interpretation, Baumgartner hopes that his paintings will retain their ambiguous character as autonomous artistic creations.

Stig Baumgartner (b.1969) works in the tradition of abstract painting, paying homage to its legacy while at the same time boldly renewing it. Alongside his artistic practice, he is also a long-time lecturer in drawing and perception at the Academy of Fine Arts, the University of the Arts Helsinki. He completed his doctoral degree in 2015. Stig Baumgartner’s paintings are held in many of Finland’s most prestigious collections, including Saastamoinen Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22, 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com

Stig Baumgartner @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki - Things Falling Into Place

Stig Baumgartner 

Things Falling Into Place 

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki 

September 15 – October 15, 2023 

For Stig Baumgartner, painting is a process of becoming visible. The form and subject find their shape through the process, which invariably entails identification with something as yet strange and unknown. Upon completion, what initially presents itself as an indeterminate geometric composition finally falls into place and in doing so, the identity of the work also finds its consummate shape. The finished work is like a joyful exclamation: This is exactly how I was supposed to look!

In Stig Baumgartner’s oeuvre, predictable geometry is contrasted with expressive gestures and details emphasizing temporality and the momentary nature of the process. His compositions shine, splatter, shake, or sweat in their own joy of emerging. Each painting constitutes its own significant event while at the same time possessing its own unique personality. Stig Baumgartner’s stylized brushstrokes assert themselves as self-contained visual motifs equal in status to his geometric shapes.

For Stig Baumgartner, painting is a dialogue between conscious and controlled versus unconscious and playful expression. He deliberately invites imperfections and deviations that push his abstract expression in a more human direction. Visually, his paintings take their cue from the laws of geometry, while his process is shaped by intuitive choices that endow his conceptual structures with recognizable forms. His figurative abstractions obey the laws of gravity, creating space for a shared bodily experience. In their materiality and spatiality, his geometric subjects also reveal something about how we make observations and how we always look for meaning in what we see.

Stig Baumgartner (b. 1969) is an artist and a lecturer in drawing and perception at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. He is also noted for his long career in public art. His latest public piece was completed in the summer of 2020 for the campus of Turku University. Stig Baumgartner’s paintings are found in Finland’s leading collections, including the Saastamoinen Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22 - 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com