The Other Side

The Other Side / Richard Stipl and Josef Zlamal

At first glance the drawings and sculptures of Josef Zlamal and Richard Stipl have very little in common yet there is much common ground in this trans-generational dialogue during their twenty years of acquaintance. A dedication to media and material functions as a starting point to a platform for the analysis of the human condition. In their work they turn to a cocktail of distorted beauty, disgust and obscenity not as a means of criticism or inflicting violence on their viewers but rather point inward where the duality of humanity and monstrosity become one.

Contact:

Wilhelm ContemporaryOlomoucká 5578501 ŠternberkCzech Republic

[email protected]

Richard Stipl - 73x80x30cm, clay, hair, shellac

Josef Zlamal - 1000x1400mm, ink on handmade paper

Richard Stipl - each 34x35x27cm, clay, shellac

Richard Stipl - 17x15x12cm, clay, shellac

Richard Stipl - 73x80x30cm, clay, hair, shellac

Richard Stipl

The person that the artist knows best and can control the most is the self. The possibilities of self-deceit are reduced to a minimum and a control of the subject matter is presented to the gaze of the spectator. These sculptural works are not only about capturing an individual, analysis of expressions, strengths and limitations but also an exploration of parallel universes of unanswerable questions and the big "ifs" of personal history.

In this sculptural work I examine the psychic makeup of an individual, inner struggles and the debates within one self, unfolding into a visual non-linear diary. While creating sculptural compositions, the exploration of the self in turn is not merely presented in psychologically charged, body-oriented sculptures but also draws from theatrical elements of tableau, composition, dark humor, sequence and motion.

Thus the development of multiple selves introduces ideas that there is no correct way of being, that every identity is a process and that we position ourselves in roles that we are unaware of.

Josef Zlamal

In my drawings I continually revisit themes of pain, human solitude, loneliness, dread, horror and death in diverse modifications. From time eternal these themes have been an inherent part of our lives and not just because they are the ultimate boundaries of life. Overall we are not confronted directly with our own finality to a great degree. A tangible fear for our own existence is rare and foreign to us. Instead we choose to frighten ourselves artificially. This substitute fear diverts our attention to a place that is devoid of thought. All has to be amusing, non-committal but only to those who admit it. Only then is it possible to work senselessly, to convulsively reject precedents and deny years of experience and tradition.

My drawings are not created spontaneously but undergo a process of layering. They are repeatedly soaked in a water bath and subsequently scrubbed and washed out. Parts of the motifs disappear, the essential remains. They are full of citations and references ranging from medieval art to silent film and demand patience and close observation from the viewer. Only then does a series of narratives open up in small details. Not people but rather empty clothed vessels come to us from the other shore. They are expressions of absolute solitude. Horror and fear are not accompanied by screams but rather by silence.

Richard Stipl - each 23x15x12cm clay, shellac

Richard Stipl - 34x35x27cm, clay, wax, metal

Richard Stipl - 30x18x12cm, clay, shellac, found objects

Richard Stipl - 80x50x40cm, clay, shellac, oil

Josef Zlamal - 1000x700mm, ink, charcoal and acryl on handmade paper

The Other Side

Documents

Transcript of The Other Side