RENÉ WIRTHS

Do you consider your last paintings as hyperrealist?
Realist is the right word but I would not say that my art is hyperrealist, because you can perceive on the surface of my paintings the "structure" of the paint itself. It is not photo-realism. I in no way use photographs, but only objects as models. It is really very important for the process. I begin in a very coarse way with the broad brush and, layer after layer, I continue with finer brushes. It resembles the size of a sculpture, when one works from a large stone: the tools used become finer and finer and the work comes into existence.

You paint many everyday objects. How do you select them?
I choose the objects that I find and, a fortiori, many of them are of the daily use. I simply try to keep my eyes open and to look at the world. Every surrounding object may possibly interest me for a painting. Why do you choose such an object: for its aesthetics, for its symbol? It depends. Sometimes, the most important thing for me is the symbol. Other times, it is the surface that interests me or the aesthetics. It can also be personal. I have just painted a portrait of my mother, for example. I try to remain very open. I have a frame within which everything should be possible.

Do you sometimes construct the objects that you paint?
I have to construct them on the canvas! I do not make sketches beforehand, but I draw them directly with charcoal. It is complicated, the process takes time. Paintings such as "Stern" ("star") take about five weeks of intensive work to obtain such a paint density. Making objects myself would be quite another story. I would not say that I will never do it, it could be possible. For the moment, I have no intention of doing it. I can show you another object if you wish (he shows me a small ball in woven wood, editor's note). You see, it is an object that closely resembles by its structure (woven wood) the wooden star represented in "Stern". Will you paint it? I think so. It is a good object. It comes from Ikea! Every perspective is interesting therefore it is a good item. It is an example among others.

What is the story of “Stern”?
I found this object in Michael’s house (Michael Haas, the gallery owner) in Southern Germany. I found it interesting, the symbol also. It is related both to nature (the wood) and to the Man who made it. A star is also the symbol of Christmas, of the sky, of desire… In fact, everything is possible! I like the idea that it is possible to find several significations.

For what reason(s) do you opt for that white background that does not allow the apprehension of a context?
White means nothingness or else the mind, or it simply refers to the white wall of the “white cube”. If I used colour, it would have a radically different sense. In the case of "Stern", the object determines the shape of the frame and nothing else. Therefore I try to conceive it in the simplest possible way, for all the resources used have an influence on the others. I want to concentrate on the object itself.

Will the portrait of your mother also be without context?
Of course, the background will be white in the same manner.

Have you done many portraits?
I painted many a few years ago. Once again, everything is possible in this frame from the moment I decide that it is worthwhile. In a painting, every subject becomes an object. You painted many bicycles and shoes.

Do these paintings form series?
No, not really. There are motifs which I paint several times but they do not form series. Every painting has its own process. It can happen that after some time, motives appear not only once, but twice or more like the bicycles or the shoes. It could also happen that I paint another bicycle in year, or tomorrow: when I think that it is worthwhile. It also depends on the things themselves. It could be possible that another bicycle "forces" me to paint it.

How do you consider hyperrealism compared with your work?
As I said, there is a great difference between photo-realism and my approach. The photo-realists paint from one edge of the canvas to the other, generally with finer brushes. My way of proceeding is completely different. I want to get closer and closer to the object to make my own interpretation of reality. I must invent more than photo-realist artists. They use two-dimensional images that they also paint in two dimensions, on the canvas. I try for my part to obtain something between the object and the painting. My works often give the impression that real objects are displayed. Besides the technique, it also comes from the fact that the background is white, of the same white as the wall. The object seems to move closer to you when you are the spectator - although it is not an object but an image that appears. It is interesting to note that the public first thinks of a word: it is a "star", a "bicycle", a "hand"… He sees the painting and the first thing that comes to mind is a word corresponding to the painted object. This also is interesting.

Can you speak to us about your older series that are quite different from the works we have just spoken about?
"Phantombilder" is the German word for "photofits". In this series I rebuilt the image of people (in this case of famous artists) by memorisation. The "Relatives" series is called thus because the approach and the processes really differ. I wanted to open myself to other things. I used photographs and made "experiments" with landscapes and abstract painting. Everything was possible in these small canvases. It brings a different perspective to my other works. In Germany, we would say that it makes them more relative, less absolute. These works were always exhibited as one and the same group of paintings, but there are formal relations and all kinds of other links that establish between them in an individual manner. “David – Zyklus” formed an ensemble including thirteen works. I achieved them after the premature death of our first child, for I did not want to continue as though nothing had occurred at that critical moment of my personal life. You could call it the work of pain.

Thank you. I believe that you will soon be exhibited in a museum.
Next year, I will certainly exhibit at the Kunsthalle of Rotterdam. It will be an important exhibition and it will be interesting for me to see my paintings of these last years gathered together. It will allow having a different look on these works because it is the first time that they will be displayed together.