For Art Cologne 2021 Dürst Britt & Mayhew is proud to present a solo exhibition by Austrian artist David Roth.
David Roth’s artistic practice forms a long-term research into the origins, processes and manifestations of painting. For Roth the process of making and the element of chance involved are as important to notice as the final visual outcome. Therefore a so called end product as for example a painted canvas and side products as for example a palette or a piece of cloth for cleaning brushes, have the same value for him. Every surface with marks and history of the process may turn up in his works.
Time and duration are important elements and the layering of materials from different periods within one work can either spark dissonance or renewal. Roth’s works continually play with concepts of construction and deconstruction as well as with the performative and sculptural potential painting can possess.
For Art Cologne Roth developed a series of so called ‘Flower Paintings’, where flowers have taken on the role of paint brushes. His flower paintings do not depict flowers but come into being through their traces, by the impressions they leave behind. They are incorporated into the painterly process as both motif and instrument at the same time. By using flowers as paint brushes Roth defines his environment as a utensil and thus characterises a concept of reality which appears in painting and as painting. As “abstract” as the works appear, their means are representational – the wild flowers, the “Fleurs Sauvages”, which he picked in France or along the Danube.
David Roth (1985) graduated from the Academy of fine arts Vienna in the class of Daniel Richter. Recent solo and duo exhibitions include ‘Imagine’ at Bildraum 01 in Vienna, ’An introduction to painting’ at Dürst Britt & Mayhew, ‘remember’ at New Jörg in Vienna, ‘Vogl/Roth’ at Skulpturinstitut in Vienna, ‘ça grésille, ça clignotte’ at le commissariat in Paris and ‘Orgy Now’ at Ve.sch in Vienna. Recent group exhibitions include ‘Stretch Release’ at Dürst Britt & Mayhew, ‘Vielfalt’ at Landesmuseum Burgenland, ‘Imago Mundi’ at Belvedere Winterpalais in Vienna and ‘Plus jamais seul’ at Standards in Rennes. Work by Roth is held in private and public collections including the Landesmuseum Burgenland, the AkzoNobel Art Foundation, the Aksenov Family Foundation and the Luciano Benetton collection. David Roth lives and works in Vienna, Austria.
