Kevin Bauer

Iron, acrylic resin, plastic, polystyrene, copper and paint.

Height 140cm, Width 55cm, Depth 32cm

I like to see this work as a fragment, built from a memory of a random piece of urban architecture. Distinction between the rigid, solid materials and the kneadable and castable substances fade away, this emphasizes how everything around us is designed, both consciously and unconsciously. I bring together vernacular objects that I modified and transformed: self-made tie-wraps, structural elements molded with acrylic resin and a steel suspension system. In the work I designed every element in detail from "shape memory”, exposing something about the way I experience and perceive my surroundings.

Part of a private collection since 2020.

Iron, plastic, rubber, stainless steel, aluminium, multiplex, skai, polyether and paint.
Height 255cm, Width 171cm, Depth 100cm

A steel frame carries a panel and a cushion. The carrier derives from a glass rack, a functional and mobile object. The panel is casually tied to the carrier with a black rubber string. The work is in some ways a continuation of Memorism, using pliant versus rigid materials. Even the smallest elements like the caps and rings I made from malleable plastic.
I find a sense of impermanence in an image intriguing. The connecting elements in this work, that can clearly be undone easily by hand, create tension between construction and deconstruction. The sculpture can be read as a kind of construction kit.

Steel, MDF, plastic and paint

Height 115cm, Width 60cm, Depth 30cm

Installation at group exhibition Beeld Taal at Museum IJsselstein, May 2019

Height 350cm, Width 420cm, Length 250cm.

Walls are painted MDF plates and the floor is painted cardboard. Steel frames carrying relics of some older works of mine, which are laying on a transparent polycarbonate plate. In the middle of the small room, the sculpture Onomatopoeia* is standing. An old flickering TL-light is hanging from the suspended ceiling. I think storage spaces always have something mysterious and uncanny about them.

*Onomatopoeia is a sculpture I created in 2017.

Powder coated steel and rubber band
Height 203cm, Width 375cm, Length 176cm

In the RAUM: Docking Stations exhibition I chose to make a bench in the old town of Osnabrück (DE) inaccessible. I deprived the seating object of its primary function, to play with its status as public property. I did add a number of elements that you could sit or stand on. During the build-up already there was a lot of indignation about the overtaking of this social meeting spot - there are not many benches in that street. Even before the opening, the work was subject to vandalism. I find that interesting: of course my intention to malfunction the seating object, but apparently the alternative, my sculpture, is not desirable.

Exhibition view of a solo exhibition in April 2018 at Concordia Art Centre in Enschede, NL

With my second solo exhibition, I intended to give the space the character of a showroom. I presented sculptures on tilted platforms, similar to the pedestals used in car showrooms. Other objects were suspended from temporary plasterboard walls or shown against a painted paneling backdrop. I was looking for a manner of presentation, a context to show the works in, that would be dominant and secondary at the same time.
Two rotating sculptures, lit from behind by a beamer, cast a moving shadow on the wall and evoke a kind of neon sign. This moving element in the otherwise static environment brought a weird liveliness and emphasized the functional elements in the individual works.

I consider written text as an editable and malleable material, similar to all materials that I work with, and I apply this in the titles of works and exhibitions. Vormaliteit merges two existing concepts: a formaliteit or formality is an official, complicated prescribed rule how to handle something; and vorm is the Dutch word for external appearance. On the left in the picture the work Blind Spot, on the right the work 40 inch with projector and rotating sculpture made from beeswax.

Exhibition view of a solo exhibition in September 2018 at 37PK in Haarlem, NL

This show was a follow-up of Vormaliteit in a slightly different setup.

Polished aluminium, steel, LED lights, acrylic resin, plastic, electric wire and paint
Size variable
Display Size: Height 224cm, Width 120cm, Depth 64cm

This work consists of one sculpture on display and a ‘storage’ with 28 identical objects (partly packed in boxes). The display with the sculpture was presented within the Prospects and Concepts exhibition at Art Rotterdam, while the ‘stock’ in a shipping container stood outside. With this piece I initially wanted to question notions such as uniqueness and authenticity at the main commercial art fair in The Netherlands. Especially at an art fair like this, I see the overlap between the realms of the authentic, unique artwork and the mass-produced product.

Unintentional Neglect Gets U Nowhere Mate

Acrylic resin, polystyrene, cardboard, epoxy resin, rubber band, steel and paint
Height 118cm, Width 277cm, Depth 156cm

This work consists of 3 elements: the main part is the steel wheel with a hole in it, forming a tunnel to the identical rear of the wheel, made from cardboard with a pink epoxy coating. With a yellow-blue arm attached to the front. The yellow frame is attached to the dark blue part with a hinge, including two large tension springs - the second part. At the end of this frame is the third part, a bean-shaped club, attached.
UNGUNM is short for Unintentional Neglect Gets You Nowhere Mate. Its a work that conveys a kind of self-destructive tenor. It has actually become a politically charged work that refers to how we treat the world and each other. I have never before created such a work, this emerged from a sudden urge, happening around the time of the election of the American President. The abbreviation UNGUMN is also the proper phonetic description of the sound that the object would make, if it would actually puncture itself.

Steel, plastic, elm wood and paint
Size variable

Functionality, dysfunctionality, confusing construction kits and seductive material: Labile originated in the idea of ​​a fancy DIY storage cabinet. One that is balancing on only 1 leg. The frame bends in Merz-like shapes to write its own title in just recognizable letters. In the image, the work is situated in a corner, I chose to make it unclear whether the object has been put aside or whether it actually belongs there. To me, the deconstructed shapes are appealing and also humorous: the object itself does not seem to really know how to carry itself.

MDF, cardboard, steel, epoxy resin, acrylic resin, polystyrene, rubber and paint
Height 64cm, Width 122cm, Depth 41cm

Devour! is a wall object with catchy colors and shiny surfaces, the idea for it arose from billboards that are made to visually seduce. With its title, I refer to consumerism. The work developed slowly, as it took me quite a long time until I myself felt a real attraction to the piece, which I think is crucial for this work.

2017

sculpture

casting rock and steel

After Rietvelds BUFFET 1919 - A reaction to the 100yr anniversary of De Stijl, at Het Stijlpaviljoen, Amersfoort (NL)

Steel, magnolia wood, acrylic resin, polystyrene and paint
Height 127cm, Width 316cm, Depth 115cm

This work I made for the 100 years De Stijl exhibition at the LUMC in Leiden. Using two elementary materials, wood and steel, and detailed connections, an object emerged that is clearly related to a piece of furniture. But instead of a static image, I was looking for one that would convey a shooting movement. Like an onomatopoeia, with an exclamation mark.
I introduced fairly new material into the piece, two-component acrylic-based resin. I applied it with a spatula, giving it a kneaded, tactile surface, that contrasts with the rest of the image. The work balances on a ball, that seems to be in place to move the entire piece, or instead to roll away from underneath it.
The repetition of lines, a strong characteristic of De Stijl, is visible back in several instances, for example, the line of the tree bark resonates in the red part. The bent leg is made from one piece of steel, the large steel letter-box-like form creates a frame to look through.

transfer on MDF, steel, acrylic resin, polystyrene and paint

Height 55cm, Width 140cm, Length 157cm

Wood, plaster, steel, paint, tape and polyester resin

Height 74cm, Width 53cm, Depth 40cm

In private collection since 2017.

Epoxy resin with yellow pigment, steel, wood, plaster and paint

Height 141cm, Width 123cm, Depth 34cm

Wood, steel, polyester resin, plaster, plastic, paint, concrete plaster

Size variable

Created for an online exhibition.

Photographed at Kasteel ‘t Nijenhuis (sculpture garden of Museum De Fundatie Zwolle) in Heino, NL

Oak wood, plywood, iron, acrylic glass, epoxy resin, plaster, cardboard, polyester putty, textile, and paint

Height 336cm, Width 271cm, Length 537cm

Site-specific sculpture at Moira Exhibition Space, Utrecht

Oak wood, steel, epoxy resin, plaster, plywood and paint

Height 62cm, Width 53cm, Depth 32cm

In private collection since 2015