An exhibition of new paintings by Bernd Haussmann will be on display May 9-June 6 at William Campbell Contemporary Art. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, May 9, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The show will feature a collection of new paintings that conceptualize the artist's curiosities in the abstract, using expressive areas of rich hues, organic shapes, and anchoring lines. The nonrepresentational elements inhabit two dimensions, but also seem to penetrate the picture plane-covering and/or uncovering what lies beneath. With these open-ended non-narratives, Haussmann seeks to evoke contemplation and internal discourse.

Haussmann's latest paintings present colorful, sometimes playful, shapes and striations that move across the canvas and throughout layers-at times individually, but more often fusing to create a distinct synergy. Although undefined and enigmatic, the pieces recall elements of nature, space, and the life force, on what could be macro or micro levels. Adding to the ambiguous juxtapositions, the cerebral yet visceral compositions are surrounded by hard-edged perimeters that suggest a controlled chaos.

Each of Haussmann's series informs the next. Even as his new work explores fresh ideas, it nevertheless retains similar theoretical concepts. "My paintings are based on an evolutionary process. Just like in nature, things in my art morph from one form into another," he says. He continually addresses such questions as how we as humans fit into the world, and how we can gain an understanding of that world. "I have an idea, then I try to find ways to make it visible," Haussmann says, as he explains that communication is his primary goal when making a painting. He seeks to translate the intellectual into the visual, and the unique language of visual art serves as his vehicle.

Haussmann strives to develop an ongoing dialogue between art and audience, though he ascribes no particular meaning to any of his work. It is important to him not to color a viewer's experiences while looking at the paintings, as he firmly believes that "art is about offering, not telling or assuming." To that end, Haussmann's work preserves the individuality of each person's experience, while supporting independent thinking and allowing viewers to find their own truth amid the vivid, swirling universe contained in his work.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

A highly recognized artist, Bernd Haussmann has exhibited work in numerous one-person and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad. Venues include galleries, nonprofit organizations, and art fairs in New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Atlanta, and the Metroplex, among others. Internationally, he has shown work in Germany, Belgium, and Canada.

His work has appeared in many publications, among them Art Ltd., Artnewsinternational, Art New England, the Boston Globe, Fort Worth's Star-Telegram, New American Paintings, Metropolitan Home, This Old House (25th Anniversary Designer Show House), and House Beautiful. Haussmann's work can be found in many private and public art collections, including those of the Fort Worth's Healthpoint Corporation, Alliance Capital and the Ritz Carlton in Boston, the Hyatt Regency and Xerox Corporations in Rochester, Miami Beach's Fontainebleau, Nordstrom, the Longview Museum of Fine Art, the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, and the Stadtmuseum in T?bingen, Germany, to name a few.

Haussmann participates in various creative collaborations as well. He has served as artist-in-residence at the Broad Institute at Harvard and MIT since 2012, and in 2013-2014, he took part in DNA Song, a collaboration with the Berklee School of Music. He also teaches at the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, and at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM), both in Massachusetts.

Born in T?bingen, Germany, Bernd Haussmann became a U.S. resident in 1994. He and his wife Anne split their time between Massachusetts and western Maine.