René Wirths – THE SUBSTANCE

THE CATALOGUE FROM THIS EXHIBITION IS AVAILABLE HERE

The theory of the evolution of fine arts as developing from somewhere to somewhere else with some sort of perfect destination was rejected quite a while ago. For those involved, each current stream of arts creates an idea of a higher mission. Churches or revolutionary regimes are in need of an art that serves. Even the concept of scientific and technological revolution is interconnected with artistic ideas – one of the abstract arts. Competition from photography has now been suppressing realistic images for one hundred years or more. As early as the Impressionists, artists have been successfully arguing against so-called academic painting, pointing to a different, more subjectively seen, reality. And Immanuel Kant even declared in his theses that there is an unknowable realm of the “thing-in-itself ” behind our experience, referred to as “noumenons” by the philosopher. The way in which we understand objects limits us in this understanding. This perception and these limits are what attracts Wirths. Here, we are thinking of philosophers, phenomenologists, or Bertrand Russell, the founder of English neorealism and neopositivism, form his support and the deep inspiration. So, should perfectly exact realism, or hyper-realism, as one might say, be justified on the Fine Arts scene of today? René Wirths, throughout his production, with his entire personality, convinces us so. In his own way, he employs one achievement that originates from the already-mentioned Impressionists. They opposed pompous symbolism and the – then so popular – mythology with which academics celebrated success in the “Salons”. Instead, they began to portray normal, at first glance unattractive, motifs. Monet’s haycocks or Van Gogh’s worn shoes are the best-of-breed examples of such tendencies. Everyday consumables, not the powerful close-ups popular among hyper-realists in the 1960s, but common-use items became the main theme of Wirths’ oil paintings. Composition and a defining drawing, surprisingly quickly and skilfully carried out on a clean, white screen, is the only basis for the painting. Wirths does not use slides, photographs or any other media for his work. However, despite the civilian feeling and pragmatism arising from his works, the choice of themes is neither simple nor even casual. The subject is of the utmost importance, since it is the only thing that makes a picture a picture. The displayed object has, therefore, a kind of existential message. There is no accuracy in talking about still lifes – these tend to be a group of objects in space. With Wirths, we see only a single object, explored with the meticulousness of a scientist. It floats in a sterile clean, neutral white space. Surely, one can find a kind of artistic inspiration in addition to that sourced from philosophy; the author primarily mentions the Nordic countries, Flemish and Dutch masters’ still lifes, Dürer, and the magic of Magritte, as well as Gerhard Richter’s paintings. Above all, however, he highlights the stoicism and quietness of art by Franz Gertsch. Intellectually, loosely, he certainly follows the German movement called “New Objectivity” (Neue Sachlichkeit). For the Czech audience, Wirths’ paintings can be surprising. The works can resemble the influence of Lutheran/Protestant rigour and objectivity. Technically, the hyper-realistic painting of Theodor Pištěk may be considered a close relative. However, we must recognise that Wirths fundamentally does not use photographs or any other media as a model. The very method of his painting – examination, adding colour and layers – rather resembles a process of sculpting to the author. Seemingly mundane objects reach their pure nature: in the spirit of phenomenological philosophy, any object, any fact, is a holder of the “horizon of the world”, implying the existence of the world. As Wirths perceives the sensory data, he is also aware of their transformation, as modern science recognises transformation in perceiving physics or Euclidean geometry. Wirths mostly paints the products of human activity – often small household helpers, such as a coat-hanger, cutlery, a roll of toilet paper, a comb, a window, shoes, the back of a frame, a monumentally enlarged PET bottle … Even technical objects, tyres, a sewing machine, a camera, a radio and old tape recorders appear on his canvas; natural products are less common. His interest in the objects mentioned above is actually an interest in humans, their activities between beauty and usefulness. As we see, it is possible to discover beauty – through the work as such; painting with oil creates a new reality. And, standing in front of the perfect picture of a tape deck, we can say along with a classic: “This is NOT a tape recorder”.

Prague, 2018
Mgr. Petr Štěpán Art historian

Miro Gallery in the Church of St Roch