Josef Hirthammer has been working as a visual artist for over 40 years. In our current birthday exhibition we show a cross-section of his multifaceted oeuvre in four rooms. His multi-layered work does not allow for classical pigeonholing and defies any categorization. Artistic diversity is his trademark, his design media are painting, drawing, photography, digital painting, sculpture and installations. In terms of content, Hirthammer deals with ecological and philosophical themes, which he approaches through series of works.
Vernissage on November 21 at 3:30 pm. The opening speech will be held by Prof. Dr. Martin Oswald, PH Weingarten.
For four decades, the artist Josef Hirthammer, who lives in Fürth, has been dealing with the destruction of nature by man in his work cycle HAPPY NATURE. He sees a unique aesthetic in nature's own micro- and macrocosm. For him, nature functions as a medium of self-experience and is the object of sensual and aesthetic beauty. As a nature enthusiast, Hirthammer transforms flora and fauna into art objects. In doing so, he creates representations of nature that are equated with the primordial ground of all finite things and stand in the philosophical tradition of Spinoza. Nature with its fascinating diversity of species forms a focal point in his oeuvre, his studies of nature are imbued with feeling and admiration for nature. In addition to the flower and flower images, which are implemented in a variety of techniques, there are also sculpturally greatly enlarged seeds.
The works of the series BIG NATURE - SEEDS OF EVOLUTION, show what enormous energy potential is in these small grains. During extended walks, photographs are taken documenting the beauty of plants, flowers, found objects and dried seed stands. These photographs are digitally processed, mounted and covered with wax. The technique, reminiscent of encaustic, gives the photographic works their own aura with their milky transparent coating; they contrast with the documentary character of photography and form their own aesthetic. The sensitive wax underlines the vulnerability of nature, the works admonish a careful handling of nature in order to protect it from irreparable destruction. With his paintings he wants to show the aesthetics of our nature, the beauty of a single flower, the inherent powers in even the smallest seed. The works call for us to love and protect nature. Hirthammer also collects petals from wildflowers, which are dried and preserved in alcohol. Sealed with wax, the petals unfold a diverse play of colors in the glass vessels. Like precious tinctures, the individual jars are lined up to form an aesthetic memorial. This installation visualizes the diversity and aesthetics of nature and contains criticism of man's treatment of his natural habitat.
In the CONTEMPORARIES series, the artist paints, photographs and draws people, creating contemporary documents from the 1980s to the present. In his latest portraits, photography, painting and image editing merge and send the viewer on an exciting journey of discovery.
