Variations and Suppositions

Leo Koenig Inc., in cooperation with Patrick Painter, is pleased to announce the opening of a solo exhibition of new paintings by Christian Schumann. This new series of paintings emphasizes a shift in his work that has happened since his relocation to Los Angeles. Previously known for paintings that included text and cartoon figuration, Schumann has now distilled his work to a labor-intensive, miniscule mark making that unfolds into beautifully languorous abstractions. Only in one case do vestiges of Schumann’s cartoon influences remain, in the form of the cross-hatching technique which compose the existentialist shadows so prevalent in the world of comic illustration.

The mark making has become for Schumann a kind of notation, a repetitive, singular act which congeals into an atmospheric envelopment of the canvas. As if by some kind of aesthetic molecular reorganization, the figure as a reference has disintegrated, but the lines that compose that figure have remained. The visual genetic material has formulated into a resulting mist that envelopes the viewer with their own personal inferences.

In the second room of the exhibition are three peculiar landscapes. The paintings depict a seemingly endless panorama of ramshackle architecture, and piecemeal homesteading amidst a devastated landscape. The eye is lead through a consumed path of destruction. Although finished long before and having no correlation to recent events, one cannot help but notice the similarities between these paintings and the images that have been flashing on TV screens nightly. The bleached colors permeating the canvas add an unsettling brightness to the desolation, not unlike the blazing sunshine that accompanies Los Angeles’ infamous Santa Ana winds.

Christian Schumann has had numerous solo exhibitions worldwide. His work has been included in exhibitions such as “Proliferation,” at MOCA Los Angeles, and “Pop Surrealism,” Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. His work has been included in public collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Dallas Museum. Christian Schumann currently lives and works in Los Angeles.