Barbara Westermann

Barbara Westermann is a conceptual sculptor living in New York City. Her sculptures, prints, and drawings are minimalist and conceptual, with an emphasis on architecture, relief, geometry, and music. She is originally from Germany but has been living in New YYork for most of her career, with frequent trips and exhibitions in Germany and other international locations.She has shown her work widely, including solo shows at Kunsterlerverein Malkasten [http://www.malkasten.org/] in Dusseldorf Germany, the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Freiburg Museum of Contemporary Art [http://www.freiburg.de/pb/,Len/265394.html] in Germany. She delivered a lecture called ‘documenta urbana’ at the documenta 13 [http://d13.documenta.de/] in 2012 in Kassel, Germany. She has exhibited recently at the Tate Gallery in London [http://www.artandpoliticsnow.com/2014/08/the-tate-modern-a-chronicle-of-interventions-spring-2014/] and Super Dakota in Brussels [http://www.superdakota.com/exhibitions/dystropism].

She has published prints with Clay Street Press [http://www.patsfallgraphics.com/] in Cincinnati. Recent shows include the E|AB Fair, Clay Street Press Gallery, Momenta Art, Proteus Gowanus, the Museum of the National Library of Spain [http://www.bne.es/en/LaBNE/], Flux Factory in Long Island City, NY [http://www.fluxfactory.org/], Real Artways in Hartford, CT [http://www.realartways.org/], the University of Rhode Island, Brown University, and Art Resources Transfer [https://www.artresourcestransfer.org/]. Westermann taught a course called Materiality and Social Sculpture at the New School For Social Researchh in New York for many years, and studio courses at Providence College, Roger Williams University, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Progressive Insurance of Cleveland, OH, recently purchased a sculpture for their permanent collection.

Dr. Alexandra Keiser, Senior Research Curator, Archipenko Foundation and Former Director, AuBase Gallery has written: "Infrastructure No. 0253, a print in black and shades of grey, evokes cross-sections of architectural plans: “I would like to bring to mind the brutalism and inhuman qualities of mid-century architecture, but also my love for cement and its aesthetics. I like to play with the idea of the grid and of urban structures.” Likewise, Infrastructure No. 5317, a print with luminous tones of blue, underlines her profound interest in the thresholds between architecture and humanity. The sheer beauty of its presence though transports it into a poetical realm, a utopian space where shelters keep us warm and safe and encourage imaginative growth. Transformation is fundamental to Westermann’s art making. Her macroscopic view reveals the invisible – structures that comprise universal vocabulary and experiences. Contributing to our reading of the world, she offers a way of interpreting the competing verities of humanness that concern us."

Barbara also is the CEO of Shulu Group, a design and communications firm [https://shulugroup.com/].