Paul Beumer’s painterly practice oscillates freely between figuration and abstraction, but in the past few years gained a specific focus on the use of natural materials like indigo and barkcloth. Steering away from the conventions of the brush and canvas his works are made on a variation of loose textiles. He engages ink or chlorine and manual resist-dyeing techniques to produce abstract patterns that feel like faint memories of Western High Modernism.

Paul Beumer (1982) received his BFA from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague after which he completed a two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. For the past four years he has been working and living in China, Japan and Taiwan. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘New Seeds’ at 16/16 in Lagos, Nigeria, ’He wanted kisses, but all he got was analytical anecdotes and philosophic epigrams’ at Venue in Taipei, Taiwan, ‘The message of the flower is the flower’ at Dürst Britt & Mayhew, The Hague, Netherlands, ‘Paint Wide Mouth White’ at Qingyun International Art Centre in Beijing, China, ‘In the shade of the elms and willows, my friends drink until they are inspired’ at Goethe Pavillon, Palais Schardt in Weimar, Germany. He participated in major group exhibitions at Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen, Museum De Paviljoens in Almere and the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Work by Beumer is held in private and public collections, including the AKZO Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam; The Academic Medical Centre Art Collection, Amsterdam; the Collection of the District Court of Law, Amsterdam; the Rattan Chadha Collection, Voorschoten, Netherlands.

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