Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernd Haussmann.
Bernd, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Art is consciousness. It is the application of mindfulness. Art as a tool has helped me over many years of practice to get a little closer to the nature of things, to understanding more clearly and experiencing more deeply what is.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
There is no separation between art and life. Everything is connected.
There is no good art or bad art. All is experiencing.
So if we say “like” or “don’t like”, if we start comparing, we will not be able to fully access art. We stay on the surface.
Art has no message. It is not a commodity, not an object. Art is an experience.
With my art I try to add to our experiencing. The quality of art or, if we eliminate the word art altogether and just call it ‘experiencing’, then we could say the quality of experiencing is dependent on the quality of our presence, our ability to opening up and to surrender to what is.
If mindfulness can be an anchor to be present then art (experiencing) can be the grounding for it.
Art goes beyond the image, beyond perception. It is not about pictures, it is about enhancing the quality of experiencing life.
What I see is never what you see. And what I saw is not what is. There is no single truth in art. It’s all experiencing. And it always starts with the individual viewer. And that viewer’s willingness to see. And that, of course, goes beyond the visible.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
The biggest challenge in art and in life is to be ourselves. To do mindful art that has meaning.
Meaning for the viewer as much as for the maker. We have lost our ability to really see and to really listen.
Everything is pointing in a direction that is opposed to everything that art stands for. Values that are not connected to money or success have no place. Art can be a tool to learn more about ourselves and the world we are part of.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work has been exhibited for over 30 years, foremost in the US and Europe, in commercial galleries, at international art fairs, private and non-profit venues. Locally, my art can be seen regularly at Chase Young Gallery in Boston and Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown as well as 4 FOR ART in Lenox. A solo exhibit “Everything is the Same” will be at Chase Young Gallery June 1-30, 2018. The most recent exhibit was at the Dallas Art Fair this April with William Campbell Contemporary in Texas. In July, my solo show “In Avoidance of Beauty” will be opening at Butters Gallery in Portland, Oregon.
I am also an occasional and passionate teacher. Upcoming seminars this summer will be held at Montserrat in Beverly and at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, both in June, and the Museum School at Provincetown Art Association and Museum in September. More information on ongoing and upcoming projects, including a complete catalogue of my work, can be viewed at www.berndhaussmann.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://berndhaussmann.com/
- Email: studio@berndhaussmann.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bhaussmann/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berndhaussmannstudio/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HaussmannStudio
- Other: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BerndHaussmann
Image Credit:
Anne Albus
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