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The Art World in Focus
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René Wirths

RENÉ WIRTHS

beatbox Templon 24 October–21 December 2019 Brussels
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Press Release

For his first show in Brussels, Berliner artist René Wirths is bringing the walls of Galerie Templon alive with the rhythm of his beatbox exhibition. The artist is presenting a new collection of paintings from the ‘Liquids’ series as he continues his exploration of perception. Each piece features a glass three-quarters filled with various liquids such as milk, water, oil, ink and various juices against a neutral, monochrome background. Each liquid brings colour to the pared-back, transparent architecture of its container, enlarged and multiplied. The space is inhabited by repetition of form and variation of colours. A counterpoint is provided by the monumental painting of a vintage ghetto blaster radio and tape deck which fills the room with sound vibrations, as if by synaesthesia. True to the tradition of abstract painting, the subject takes a back seat, opening the door to reflection and to a physical and perceptive experience of the rhythm.

René Wirths is compelled to paint everyday objects, objectively and painstakingly, without the use of photographic or projection equipment. He adopts a phenomenological approach in his quest to capture and understand reality, further enriching our grasp of the world around us. In reaction to today’s overflow of imagery, the artist works slowly and precisely to deliver a concentrated form of the material and appropriate time itself. Eschewing any attempt at realism or illusionism, he places his work under the conceptual umbrella, using his brush to decipher the mysteries of existence.

René Wirths was born in West Berlin in 1967 where he still resides. He has shown his work in several international galleries, including Galerie Michael Haas in Berlin. He also took part in the 2000 Geneva Biennale and has exhibited at the Museum Gegenstandsfreier Kunst in Otterndorf (Germany) in 2008. In 2011, he was the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Rotterdam Kunsthal.

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About the Artist

Born in 1967 in Waldbröl, Germany, René Wirths lives and works in Berlin. Fascinated by questions of perception and representation, he produces carefully framed meticulous paintings of everyday objects on a white background. He ‘poses’ his ‘subjects’ in the natural light of his studio and then renders them precisely as he sees them, forcing the viewer into a head-on confrontation. Part conceptual, part hyperrealist, his works reveal the failings of our perception and explore the perplexity the artist feels when examining the world.

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Also Exhibiting at Templon

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Jan Van Imschoot
JAN VAN IMSCHOOT Le chant du pommier Templon 21 May–18 July 2026 30 rue Beaubourg, Paris
Alioune Diagne
ALIOUNE DIAGNE Saytu Templon 21 May–18 July 2026 28 Grenier Saint-Lazare, Paris
Claude Viallat Templon 22 April–20 June 2026 Brussels
About the Gallery

The gallery was founded in 1966 by Daniel Templon, who was then only 21. It first opened rue Bonaparte, in Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris, before moving in 1972 to its current location, rue Beaubourg, in the Marais, close to the Pompidou Center, which opened in 1977. Daniel Templon first gained recognition by exhibiting conceptual and minimal artists such as Martin Barré, Christian Boltanski, Donald Judd, Joseph Kosuth, Richard Serra. In the seventies and eighties, Daniel Templon was one of the pioneers of the contemporary art and introduced many important American artists to the French public: Dan Flavin, Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol. The gallery quickly became one of the references in contemporary art in France. In 1972, Daniel Templon and Catherine Millet co-founded the monthly art magazine ART PRESS.

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Address
Veydtstraat 13A
Brussels
Belgium
Opening Hours
Tues - Sat, 11am - 6pm
(1)
Brussels Veydtstraat 13A
Templon contemporary art gallery in Brussels Belgium
Templon
Veydtstraat 13A, Brussels, Belgium
+32 253 713 17
http://www.templon.com

Opening hours
Tues - Sat, 11am - 6pm
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