For Vienna Contemporary 2020 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.
Centerpiece of the presentation is Roth’s new monumental piece ‘Come as you are’, which seems to behave like a sculpture, but nevertheless has all the trappings of a painting: bearers (be it canvasses or pieces of cloth), colour, and even a wooden framework. This piece will have its premiere at Vienna Contemporary 2020 and consists of a layering of countless painted surfaces on a wooden stretcher, which has the appearance of an ordinary drying rack. Roth thus cleverly plays with notions of what a painting can be and whether the process is actually ever finished.
David Roth (1985) graduated from the Academy of fine arts Vienna in the class of Daniel Richter. Recent solo and duo exhibitions include ‘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 and the Luciano Benetton collection. David Roth lives and works in Vienna, Austria
