Dark Horse Decoy (Oil on canvas, 30.8cm x 31.4cm, Dirk Marwig 2024)
Aerolineas VIVA de Colombia -alt. publ. Design-(Oil and acrylic on old cotton dishrag, 58.5cm x 44cm, Dirk Marwig 2021)
There are always various alternatives to Everything, even for this Dishrag! If this flight company would use this “Poster”, they would be Soooooo “on the Smooth/Cool/Absolute Hip Groove!” …but you know how the World is: Safe, False, and Boring.
Village and Big City (Oil on cut-up, perforated and beat-up plywood, 71.7cm x 54.3cm, Dirk Marwig 2021)
Rotate this painting anyway you desire: it’s either the Village or the Big City. The thing they have in common is that both are Man-Made, as is the plywood, the holes, the lines, the paint, the concept, the painting and its creator.
The Brain is Stuck/Mittelspiegelung (Oil on ‘battered’ industrial plywood found on street, 76.5cm x 153cm x 6cm, Dirk Marwig 2020)
Both sides of the brain (Left and Right) start and share a Thought commencing at different times (moving in the same direction while sharing and participating in a similar perceived goal-). Each side spins at its velocity around its own Axis, continuously overlapping and bumping into one another (like bumper cars tied together, but hitting each other softly). This disturbs and Interrupts the overall encountered experience until the whole ‘Brain thought process’ comes to a fast and abrupt halt. A “Stop”. It is stuck, in a no-man’s land. This abrupt “stop” is surprising, entertaining, simple, and so basic that both sides ask questions, hence hobbling and slowing down the required action to be taken! (slowing down the reaction time)—Together!
This painting/object is based on the ‘Golden Section’.
8 Outside -photographed outside- (Oil on canvas, 122cm x 91.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2011)
8 Outside -photographed outside-(Oil on canvas, 122cm x 91.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2011)
-This was line-colour-perception experiment: Eight focal points outside the canvas coming from all 4 sides(2 focal points on each side). All the coloured lines that come from(or go to) the 8 focal points are ‘mirrored’ through the centre again then painted (again) in the complementary colours.
The 4 colours(blue,red,green and yellow) colours are pure(not mixed)just painted in very thin layers on top of each other. The white lines just highlight the shape created through multiple repetition. It’s hung askew but it doesn’t feel that way.
The Beauty of the Undefined and Indefinite (Oil on canvas, 204.5cm x 166.3cm, Dirk Marwig 2016)
This large canvas invites the spectator to enter and to be part of the composition. This is only a photo but when you stand in front of this large painting, you immediately form part of it and enter the world of the undefined and indefinite. We know nothing and we are nothing. Screw the big egos.
Pizzazz (Oil on canvas, 95.5cm x 154.2cm, Dirk Marwig 2016)
It’s the 13th of July and I’m still so very slow working due to my knee injury but today I finally finished this new painting. Highly my kind of “deconstructivism” showing my idea of cool “Pizzazz”ness. This painting is based on the Golden Section / “Golden Rectangle. A very reduced and interactive composition.
ORIWAKO (Oil on wood panel, 91.5cm x 61cm, Dirk Marwig 2016)
This painting was in my studio for more than a year and yesterday I finished it adding the last few essentials it needed. While I was working on it the name “Oriwako” kept going through my mind. I later looked it up on the ‘net’ and found out that the word does not exist. How can this be? This word has some kind of power or meaning in some language, otherwise why would I have constantly repeated it so my times in my head while looking and working on it? Very strange. This makes me wonder.
Reach You With My Mind (Oil on plywood-irregular pentagon shape, 45.5cm x 71.8cm, Dirk Marwig 2016)
This painting looks like as if it has been photographed close-up style with a ‘wide angle macro’ lens. But it’s not. This is what the painting actually looks like when photographed from a straight-on position. The irregular pentagon shape is composed out of 2 golden rectangles of different dimensions separated by a square and connected by the longer diagonal(lower right to upper left). This is a little mind game I like to play and to surprise myself with.
Phenomenon (Oil on stretched thick hardened cotton cloth, 91.5cm x 91.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2016)
This one is difficult to explain. It just happened. It freaks me out. Just look at it for a while and you’ll know why.
-We always see ‘things’ but are not aware of what exactly we are witnessing until we see “it” again in retrospect (i.e.: later in a photo, for example). This happened here.
Human Vault (Oil and Bic-pen on canvas, 51cm x 82.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
The “Human Vault”… Dark, Deceptive and Sexy -I love to work with Bic-pens. It’s fun and the smeary blue ink has a special quality that I like perfect for this drawing/painting. Again the DNA of the painting is based on the “Golden Section”.
La Castellana (High pigment lacquer on cardboard mounted on plywood, 70.2cm x 35,2cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
Another memory of Madrid(Spain) where I lived for 16 years. “El Paseo de la Castellana” is the central big multi-lane avenue in Madrid running north-south/south-north(like Park Avenue in New York City) ending(or beginning) at the 2 major train stations Atocha and Chamartin. “La Castellana” depicts a busy intersection (probably close to “Plaza de Colon”)seen from above in the way I see things.
Apollo (Oil on Japan-paper mounted on wood panel, 72.2cm x 63.6cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
Mankind has NEVER left planet Earth. It’s a nice dream but physically not possible. “Man on the moon” is a big government HOAX!
Painting is it’s own language combining all knowledge (consciously and subconsciously) which the artist has to offer to the world. I really did my best not to control anything in the process, not to think, somehow just being a “vessel” and getting lost in the process. This painting is the result combining my ideas, concepts, shapes, sounds and images reducing them to the bare minimum, tactile and ethereal at the same time. Look and understand.
Rewind, Right There! (Oil and ink on Japan-paper mounted on plywood, 47.6cm x 42.8cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
Subtle yet Powerful, Calculated yet Spontaneous. Elegant and Beautiful! *It’s a very sad thing that I have to “explain” my work(What happened to Culture and Education?)* -I had this piece literally flying around in my studio for 3 years. Every time I looked at it though, something ‘else’ became visible and finally today(July 3rd 2015) I decided to clean it up, mount it on a plywood board and photograph it. What a process. I nearly tossed it!
The Melancholy of our Timelines (Oil on cotton cloth mounted on plywood, 36cm x 58cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
I “undid” the psychological effects of the colour “green”. Can green (which is normally an emotionally positive colour) be the colour of ‘melancholy’? YES. Just look at this painting for a while and you will notice a melancholy sadness.
Amazo-Sphere (Oil on primed cotton bath towel mounted on plywood, 53.5cm x 86cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
Everything in this painting is again based on the divine proportions of the “golden rectangle”. The colours, the ‘feel’ and mood are of the rainforest. And for the first time: Op-Art that is really RELAXING!
Heightened Awareness (Oil on Japan-paper, 32cm x 48cm, Dirk Marwig 2015)
This little painting was in my studio for 2 years. Something was missing and last night in a ‘state of Heightened Awareness’ and without thinking I added 4 highlights and suddenly the painting came alive. Wow. -If look at it from a distance an ‘alternate reality’ appears. No words can capture this. Magical.
U.N. (Enamel and high pigment lacquer on plywood, 51cm x 51cm, Dirk Marwig 2014)
This painting corresponds to the “Airport” painting : the outline of my irregular heptagon constructed only with the help of the “Golden Rectangle”. The spectator is again involved to connect the invisible lines inside of the ‘outline’. Endless possibilities.
Airport (High pigment lacquer on plywood inlay, 62cm x 62cm, Dirk Marwig 2014)
This painting shows how to ‘construct’ an irregular heptagon on the basis of the ‘Golden Rectangle’. Even if this is an irregular 7 sided polygon(irregular heptagon) there is an intrinsic feeling of harmony and balance that can only be explained by the continuous use of the ‘Golden Section’. Every corner and every intersection of each line can be endlessly connected to another corner or line, the grid getting smaller or larger maintaining total congruency. -If you look at it long enough the ‘lines’ start jumping out at you in 3D and the spaces shift and shake uncontrollably!
Mankind (High pigment lacquer on plywood mounted on wood panel, 91.5cm x 91.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2014)
*Mankind” is the result of the cut up “Flop Object”(an object I worked on for a long time, but then suddenly decided to trash). I cut all the salvaged wood into perfect ‘Golden Rhombi’, then assorted all the pieces on a square wood panel. This painting/object can be seen from all sides. With each Rotation, it gives you a different Sensation…(that Rhymes!) It can even be put up diagonally. This piece highlights the greedy, “Ant-like” Occupation and Restructuring of Mother Earth by Yours Truly: “Mankind”.
Resonance (Oil on Japan-Paper mounted off centre on white plywood square, 48.3cm x 48.3cm, Dirk Marwig 2011)
This is a gift to Nadim Amar. This little painting was in my “unfinished work” box for 3 years until I mounted it on a square (painted white) piece of plywood (but not in the centre) just like you see it in the photo. Now, finally it is finished!
Because the painting itself is not centred the eyes move back and forth(right to left ) and the colours vibrate in all directions giving that feeling of “Resonance”.
A Landscape for the Pyromaniac (Oil on plywood, 23cm x 59.3cm, Dirk Marwig 2014)
My mother always told me when I was young : “Why don’t you just paint landscapes? People would buy them and you could make lots of money.” -Well here’s a landscape for you!
This painting shows the view of the burning landscape via satellite and a the panoramic view from the ground all in one.
Alles ist Gut -old work, I had just turned 21 when I painted this- (Oil on canvas, 30cm x 40cm, Dirk Marwig 1981)
“I found this at my mothers house when I travelled to Germany in 2013. I had just turned 21 when I painted it. This little painting shows my extreme frustration in dealing with this world, the same frustration I still have in dealing with everything today! “Alles ist Gut” means “Everything is good or well”… Sarcastic, of course. It also shows my love for geometry and abstraction which still forms the basis of my work. This is probably one of the very few paintings that has my name on the front- usually I sign and date on the back of the piece in order not to ruin the composition.”
When the Politician Speaks (Oil on burlap on plywood, 21.3cm x 68.8cm, Dirk Marwig 2014)
*As you can see the Politician never says anything. It’s all just deceptive rhetoric! A self serving ‘This Way’ / ‘That Way’. Always bamboozling the public/population, using generic “LINES” and meaningless phrases that carry no intention, truth or wisdom.
The Constructivist-study- (Oil on hardened cardboard on plywood, 30.5cm x 43cm, Dirk Marwig 2014)
“This small painting is a study for a much larger painting. I hardly ever do a study but with this particular composition i needed to figure out the exact position of each element. My idea was to interlock 2 ‘Question Marks’, my eternal theme. If you turn the painting on it’s side you can recognize the 2 ‘Question Marks’.”
‘Lines’ Painting No.3 (Oil on burlap, 140cm x 100cm, Dirk Marwig 1996) -older work-
“Little by little I’m finding photos of my earlier work and uploading these onto my website. This one is the third “Lines” painting i did in 1996. I believe that it is in the Nikolaus Fischer private collection in Germany.”
Mind Cleaner (Oil on canvas, 122cm x 244cm, Dirk Marwig 2008)
“I just found the file of “Mind Cleaner” from 2008-this painting wasn’t on the site, I don’t know why. It’s a big painting that i made to clean my mind of all noise- to look at it really relaxes you because of it’s size, the seemingly simple lines, the monochrome titanium white with the mix of cobalt and ultra-marine blues and the impeccable execution with thousands of little brush strokes. I painted the whole “thing” with a small #6 brush! I really love this one because it’s so ‘Clean'(It was a pain in the ass though to photograph)”
Cartography, Organic, Random (Oil on plywood, 94.5cm x 75.7cm, Dirk Marwig 2013)
“I have always loved maps. Without thinking i started scratching thousands of lines all over the plywood board- added some colour and at the end of the day some kind of map appeared. Then the real work began: organizing the chaos until it made sense to me.”
Magic Square (Oil on wood panel, 60cm x 60cm, Dirk Marwig 2013)
“I used 8 colours in this painting -you can see them diagonally from the top left going down to the bottom right- then I made a grid of 64 squares and only using these 8 colours,mixing them with each other adding only white or grey filling in all 64 boxes starting from the left and moving to the right painting in columns”.
Predator (Oil and ink on wood panel, 51cm x 61cm, Dirk Marwig 2013)
I had this painting sitting in my studio for almost 2 years. Every time I looked at it I thought that it was finished, but because it was so dark I always wanted to ‘change’ it somehow. But I never did. Only now am I publishing it because it really is finished. That was my conclusion looking at it again today. I love this one.
Floor Plan A (Acrylic on Wood panel, 53.5cm x 53.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2013)
The perfect distribution of load bearing walls in a square floor plan. Light passes from all 4 ‘outside’ walls offering the perfect relation or balance of ‘private’ and ‘open’ space. ‘Floor Plan A’ is based entirely on the “Golden Section”,that’s why it works.
Abort the Mundane (Oil on canvas, 107cm x 172.8cm, Dirk Marwig 2013)
Today the mediocre, banal, ordinary and uninspired are glorified (just watch daytime television or these fucked up reality shows where retarded, vain “housewives” show the world just how dumb and evil they are!) This NO CULTURE/ UN-CULTURE ‘culture’ gets on my nerves. ‘Abort the Mundane’ or “TURN”(into one of them). Death to “low brow”.
Vertigo (Oil on wood panel and recycled Fir-wood built into a frame, 52.5cm x 60,2cm, Dirk Marwig 2013)
This painting features the “Golden Rectangle”. It’s the one that has the ‘red outline’ in the centre. The idea for this painting/object came to me after visiting some people who had paintings up on the wall which were sort of hung ‘crooked’, but not on purpose. I wanted to make something that was “off” but at the same time “not off”.
12 Tone Scream (Oil on wood panel,122cm x 91.5cm,Dirk Marwig 2013)
This painting is inspired by the music of Alban Berg’s “Lulu”, in particular “The Lulu Suite”. Here is a YouTube video link so you can get an idea of what I’m trying to convey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RD2iJyDnDSgaM&v=2iJyDnDSgaM It gives me “goose-bumps” again and again!
Untitled 1993 (Oil on beat-up plywood board,122cm x 84cm, Dirk Marwig 1993 Madrid,Spain)
I did a whole series of paintings on ‘street found’ plywood boards of all sizes and shapes the likes of which I did not modify, merely sanding them and cleaning them up a bit. I did this because I was too poor to buy proper “supports”. This is the only photo that I still have of this series(thanks to the owner of the piece in Germany).
THE BIG PAINTING (Oil on canvas, 200cm x 155cm, Dirk Marwig 1992)
“I used this painting as a “Map”,”Blueprint” or “Study” for all the Objects I constructed in the next 7 years after 1992. It took me 6 months to paint, 8-10 hours a day. I also was pretty poor at the time, painting it in the small laundry room of the apartment I had with my newlywed wife. Unfortunately, I still do not have a ‘good’ photo of this painting.
Flat and Off #2 (Oil on canvas mounted on plywood, 38cm x 48.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2008)
*This was also an experiment from 2008: I never liked medieval art- it was usually flat and basically all elements in the paintings depicting religious or feudal scenes were “off”… but somehow there was ‘something’ that did touch me in a way that I did not understand. With this little experiment I incorporated of what I found to be ‘charming’ in medieval art (the lack of perspective’, the compartmentalization, the ultramarine blue) the ‘theme’, of course, is updated. When I finish what I’m working on now I intend to build an elaborate gilded frame to finally finish this painting.
8 Outside (Oil on canvas, 122cm x 91.5cm, Dirk Marwig 2011)
This was line/colour experiment: Eight focal points outside the canvas coming from all 4 sides(2 focal points on each side). All the coloured lines that come from(or go to) the 8 focal points are ‘mirrored’ through the centre again then painted (again) in the complementary colours.
The 4 colours(blue,red,green and yellow) colours are pure(not mixed)just painted in very thin layers on top of each other. The white line just highlights the shape created through multiple repetition.