press release

Peter Bauhuis

The extraordinary work of Munich goldsmith Peter Bauhuis presents the opportunity to greatly expand the perceptions those who have a traditional understanding of what a goldsmith does.For some time now the art of goldsmithing has been no longer limited to its traditional role of producing jewelry, functional tableware and ceremonial objects but it is rare to encounter work which is simultaneously so beautiful, innovative and clever.

Since the mid 1990's Peter Bauhuis' output has been extensive and wide ranging, including jewelry, vessels, artists books and optical installations ranging in size from handheld to architectural. In 2000 he won the Debutantenpreis of the Munich Academy of Fine Art. and om 2001 the Prize of the City of Munich for the applied Arts. There are three main threads linking throughout this diverse output: At a glance the first two are very different - a preoccupation with looking and being looked at (as evident in his 'Euscopes' and 'Pant Pocket Peep Show' works and several optical installations), and an obsession with casting - but they are very much linked by the third element, Bauhuis's sharp, intelligent and humourous mind.

In this exhibition Bauhuis presents three distinctive groups of work which share the casting process as their material origin. Casting is a process through which wax models are immersed in plaster, the wax is burned out and molten metal is poured into the resulting cavity. A standard process used everywhere in conventional jewelry, but for Bauhuis his intensive and inventive preoccupation with this process has produced results which are simply magical. He understands and exploits the essential nature of the casting process - that molten metal flows as far as it can before it cools down to become solid.With very fine cavities, or too low a casting temperature the metal solidifies before it can completely fill the available volume. Used to advantage this can produce results that can't be totally controlled - metal anarchy! In the world of goldsmithing the precision relating to the processes and material usually control the result but here the main work is tied up in the preparation of the wax forms and then a combination of fate, experiential knowledge and intelligent anticipation take over.

With his 'Fussel' (lint) series Bauhuis cast pieces of coarse fabric tomake lapel pins out of gold and silver. They are so tiny that when seen worn on a jacket, coat or sweater the first impulse is not to rest one's eye's admiringly, but to be irritated by the tiny interruption - is it lint, or worse, dirt? The hand of the viewer has to resist the temptation to flickthe intruder away. A closer investigation reveals an object so fine and haphazard that it's hard to believe human hands were involved with its manufacture.

Exploiting this random aspect is further developed with the 'Foam Gold' series of brooches, pendants and rings. Using a complex filigree network of tiny wax branches Bauhuis constructs a flow path through which gold can take on the form and complexity of sponge. This path becomes an essential part of the finished piece. Again it's hard to believe they are human-made, although it is also true to say they are castings which have grown into being. Bauhuis also uses to advantage the extraordinary subtlety of colour available through making different gold alloys to produce delicate hues from pale green yellow to deep autumn leaf orange.

With his 'Vessels' Bauhuis takes the process yet another step further both into terms of scale and complexity of execution, where he casts or hammers a metal vessel into being and then plans an intervention of a most unusual kind - he casts a second layer of metal around the inside of the first vessel via sprues which penetrate the base of the vessel and then are trimmed below the base of the vessel to become feet. These pieces are elementary forms, they stand upright thanks to their simple 'feet' and decribe a volume - the basic ingredients necessary for vessels - but they are much more than that. The second layer is of a different alloy and colour. During the casting, when the molten metal collides with the solid layer, the metals react with each other at the surface of intersection - this produces painterly results on the inside of the vessel. The finished vessels are rich and shiny and yet at the same time seem to be ancient and somehow archeologic. The strange simplicity and beauty of these vessels provides an experience that deepens the more one spends time with them.