Véronique Joumard

Her works bear a resemblance to painting and drawing even though she does not actually use these media. Joumard ‘paints and draws’ by means of prefabricated everyday materials such as reflecting fabrics, mirrors, light, and associated elements such as electricity, energy, and network connections. Her installations feature electric cables, sockets, connectors, and lamps, depending on prevailing spatial conditions. They either structure the space as drawings, responding to whatever light is available, or they impact the recipient’s behavior. Mirrors arranged in series, for example, if viewed from the front, do not offer any reflection; when viewed from the side, however, there is a reflection. Visitors are therefore surreptitiously encouraged and challenged to try out different perspectives to delve into the phenomenon of reflection — something that confuses those who like to follow beaten exhibition tracks. Videoprojecteur is a photograph of a three-tube projector whose primary colors red, yellow, and blue are pointed to the camera. The picture-generating device becomes a representational motif. Joumard’s photographic diptych Travelling gazes from an unfinished interior space into an exterior space. The building structure frames the view; the panorama is spatially divided to allow for better viewing and a more intense perception. Joumard’s works mesmerize us with their materiality, simplicity, conceptual depth, and execution. The common thread is the artist’s preoccupation with materials, the functional and conceptual potential of light, and the way it has been historically used. References to abstract art as well as Minimal Art are evoked time and again, but Joumard clearly shows an affinity for the sensuality of Minimal Art. For the exhibition at Kunsthaus Baselland she will devise a unique spatial concept.
Text by Sabine Schaschl