Mario Dilitz 2018

MARIO DILITZ

SLADMORE CONTEMPORARY

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MARIO DILITZ

SLADMORE CONTEMPORARY

32 Bruton Place · Mayfair · London W1J 6NW · T: 020 7499 0365 · www.sladmorecontemporary.com

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INTRODUCTION

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am delighted to be introducing our first exhibition of Mario Dilitz. It was only two years ago that a kind collector and client rang me to say that he had recently bought a wood carving by a young Austrian sculptor and he really thought I should see him. I took his advice and he was right. Mario came to see me in the gallery with his work and I was instantly bewitched; his solitary standing figures, with their steady gaze and strong silent poses have a presence that is remarkable and moving.

We have shown his wood carvings and some bronzes, in the gallery and at art fairs over the last couple of years. The response has been the same as my own, with his series in wood and the bronze editions selling out swiftly.

This first solo exhibition concentrates solely on his wood carvings, which he makes in small series. I recently visited his studio, high in the mountains near Innsbruck to prepare for the show and was struck by the beauty and silence of the area; just the gentle rasping of his files as Mario delicately finished carving the face of a young girl. The other sculptures for the exhibition calmly standing witness as they awaited their journey to London. Though to be fair, Mario had given his assistants the day off so I was spared the usual sounds of saws and routers! There is a long tradition of wood carving in that part of Austria and Mario’s work is a unique contemporary take on this; original and thought provoking. The delicacy of the carving, the attention to detail, the joy of feeling the surface of the wood Itself: I really recommend a visit to see for yourself our newest young talent.

Gerry Farrell Director

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he figures stand quietly there, life-size, flawless, gently rounded. The lime wood shimmers transparently, like skin, inviting us to trace the grain and the curves with our finger. The sculptor Mario Dilitz is interested in people: their evolution, their being and their decay. He senses them all in the moment in which a man, a woman, a child is completely alone, standing somewhere, utterly lost in thought. His sculptures seen introspective, concentrated, oblivious to their effect on others; some seem to be smiling slightly, while others gaze almost sceptically. Their almost neutral expressions offer plenty of leeway for the visitor’s own projections, but also reveal Dilitzʼs urge for perfection, his insatiable need to continue working and practising until he has mastered the material and made it his own, until his hands move almost as fast as his thoughts, until he can demonstrate his craftsmanship almost in his sleep.

This applies to the wood-carving but it also applies to skiing. Mario Dilitz was born in Axams in Tyrol in 1973, and before he decided to become a sculptor, he swirled acrobatically down the slopes as a freestyle skier and participated successfully in the European and World Cup championships. Then came the return to his roots, to his childhood. Wood, for him, represented part of his understanding of the place he called home. Until he was twelve he spent many hours in his father’s workshop, worked with wood and even did some carving before he discovered skiing. He gave up competitive sport when he was 25. But with the same consistent discipline which he had demonstrated as a sportsman he now focused on his new vocation, sculpture. In 1998 he began a training course at a specialist school of wood sculpture in Val Gardena and attended the summer academy in Salzburg, then worked in several workshops, absorbing the knowledge and skills of his older colleagues until he established himself as a freelance sculptor in 2004 – still careful, still driven by the desire to master his craft as perfectly as possible before taking the plunge and joining the “art circus”.

His “training” consisted of a large number of commissions, including orders for marble sculptures weighing several tonnes. Continually gathering new skills as a craftsman, he created a foundation for his entry into the world of art. He likes to quote the observation of the Swedish psychologist K. Anders Ericsson, whereby it takes 10,000 hours to master the technical problems. The latter had claimed back in 1993 that an individual needs to spend this length of time in intensive, focused practice in order to achieve world rank, regardless of the discipline concerned. Of course, truly free creative work is only possible when the technique recedes into the background and is no longer a concern for the artist. In 2009 Dilitz credited himself with sufficient skill to venture into the exhibition arena – and was successful.

The artist from Tyrol does not work with models and does not reflect very much about his subjects. The capturing of the inner moments, which he sees as important, demands precise decisions in view of the accuracy at which he is aiming. Dilitz, who prefers modelling to carving, believes that he has an obligation to beauty and is convinced that also with beauty – or perhaps by means of beauty in particular – he can penetrate into the depths. He colours the tiny seams in the glued lime wood red – little arteries which make his works even livelier and which have become his trademark. His most recent sculptures, some of which have been cast in bronze in the meantime, are noticeably reduced compared with the earlier figures, which often held something in their hand, or which were shown clutching objects or wearing head coverings. Today they no longer need this hold and protection quite as obviously. They stand there, relaxed, lost in their thoughts and sufficient unto themselves.

Sabine Reithmaier

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At the start of the creative process for any wooden sculpture there is a wide-ranging collection of ideas. The first sketches, called Bozzetti, then the search for construction solutions by means of small models.

Next the development of a physical rough model sketch which is followed by experimental three-dimensional sketches ending with intensive work on the wooden statue itself.

The procedure – from the first sketch to the revelation of the rough form on the block of wood, down to the final finishing of the surface – is essentially still the same as it was in the masters’ studios of times gone by. Individual moments, such as the removal of the material to produce the rough form, have been made easier by the use of contemporary aids, but the decisive creative steps are still executed with time-consuming labour by hand, using traditional tools. It is here that the specific elements that determine the artistic value and the expressiveness take place. It is this “working” of the last layers which transforms each individual wood sculpture, even in the case of editions, into an unusual and unique work.

The basic material of all sculptures illustrated here consists of wooden blocks of native woods that have been glued together in a time-consuming process. The finely glued seams are emphasised with red or black paint and thereby lend the sculptures an inimitable appearance. The subsequent treatment of the surfaces with white varnish counteracts the natural darkening effect: the wood retains its cool elegance for a long time and creates the almost skin-like transparent surface which makes the works seem almost alive.

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1. No.141 MAN WITH SHORTS Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 6 87 x 25 x 22cm

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2. No.144 BOY WITH TEDDY Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 6 170 x 25 x 25 cm (with base)

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3. No.147 BOY WITH CLOTH Oak and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 6 86 x 22 x 17cm (with base)

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4. No.162 BOY WITH HAT, TORSO Oak and black glue Piece is unique, from a series of 5 66 x 35 x 23 cm

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View from the artist’s studio

5. No.163 LARGE STANDING BOY Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 3 210 x 42 x 40 cm

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6. No.165 LARGE BOY WITH SHORTS Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 3 210 x 62 x 40 cm

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7. No.166 WOMAN, ARMS FOLDED Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 3 178 x 42 x 32 cm

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8. No.168 GIRL WITH PILLOW Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 6 96 x 22 x 20cm (without base)

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9. No.174 BOXING BOY WITH HAT Oak and black glue Piece is unique, from a series of 6 96 x 35 x 20 cm

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10. No.175 NUDE WOMAN Oak and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 3 178 x 42 x 35 cm

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11. No.171 WOMAN WITH VESSEL Limewood and red glue Piece is unique, from a series of 6 110 x 26 x 19 cm

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ARTFAIRS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018

Contemporary Istanbul / Turkey

2018

2018

Masterpiece London / UK

Contemporary Sladmore Gallery / London / UK

2018

VOLTA 14 / Basel /Switzerland

2017

Artdepot / Innsbruck / Austria

2018

Solo_Show@Art Karlsruhe / Germany

2016

Gallery Victor Lope / Barcelona / Spain

2018

KunstRAI Amsterdam / Netherlands

2015

Gallery LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects / Brussels / Belgium

2017

SCOPE Miami Beach / USA

2014

2017

Kunst 17 Zürich / Switzerland

Mario Dilitz, Galleria Sacchetti / Ascona / Switzerland

2017

SWAB Barcelona / Spain

2013

Gallery LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects / Brussels / Belgium

2017

Contemporary Istanbul / Turkey

2012

2017

Masterpiece London / UK

Mario Dilitz, Galleria Sacchetti / Ascona / Switzerland

2017

Art Bodensee / Messe Dornbirn / Austria

2010

2017

Scope_Basel / Switzerland

Galerie an der Pinakothek der Moderne / Munich / Germany

2017

Scope New York / USA

2017

Art Karlsruhe / Germany

2017

London Art Fair / UK

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016

Contemporary Istanbul / Turkey

2018

Gallery Victor Lope / Barcelona / Spain

2016

ART Fair Cologne / Germany

2017

Gallery LKFF / Brussels / Belgium

2016

YIA Artfair / Paris / France

2016

2016

Art Élysèes / Paris / France

Contemporary Sladmore Gallery / London / UK

2016

Crossroads Art Show / London / UK

2016

Gallery Victor Lope / Barcelona / Spain

2016

SWAB Barcelona / Spain

2016

Gallery LKFF / Brussels / Belgium

2016

Kunstsalon Burg Perchtoldsdorf / Vienna / Austria

2015

Mario Dilitz, Galleria Sacchetti / Ascona / Switzerland

2016

Art Bodensee / Messe Dornbirn / Austria

2015

2016

Scope_Basel / Switzerland

Schweizerische Triennale der Skulptur / Bad Ragaz / Switzerland

2016

Art Austria / Leopoldmuseum Vienna / Austria

2014

Gallery LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects / Brussels / Belgium

2016

Art Karlsruhe / Germany

2013

Mario Dilitz, Galleria Sacchetti / Ascona / Switzerland

2015

Slick art fair Paris / France

2012

2015

Schweizerische Triennale der Skulptur / Bad Ragaz / Switzerland

Presence, Gallery LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects / Brussels / Belgium

2014

Slick art fair Paris / France

2012

One Artist Show / Art-Karlsruhe / Germany

2011

One Artist Show / Art-Karlsruhe / Germany

2011

Munich Contempo / Germany

2011

Contemporary-Art-Ruhr / Germany

2010

One Artist Show / Art Innsbruck / Austria

2010

Art Bodensee / Dornbirn / Austria

2010

Munich Contempo / Munich / Germany

2009 Art Innsbruck / Austria

MARIO DILITZ SLADMORE CONTEMPORARY

SLADMORE CONTEMPORARY

www.sladmorecontemporary.com 2018