Art that is tangible in the physical sense and comprehensible intellectually, especially the figure, is currently undergoing a renaissance. There is a new appreciation of all that is resilient, static and permanent. Mario Dilitz creates concrete sculptures using natural materials which represent the compact surface, the external appearance of the human body.
His figures are made from lime wood or cast in bronze, and when we encounter them and as we get to know them the form becomes a map of the soul in which socio-relevant sensibilities can be sounded out. Slender, angular figures whose frames resemble those of children or adolescents become ambassadors of the spirit of the times: the child or the young person is seen as innocent, ingenuous, a truly honest link in a chain, a storehouse of reality as we live it. In contrast to the body which appears withdrawn or frozen, the figure’s gaze is alert and quite often confident, boring into the viewer and staring straight ahead. Dilitz’s figures stand exposed before the viewer; they are generally either naked or only lightly clothed. The sculptures have been skillfully worked from boards that were joined to form a block. This, together with the natural grain of the wood, reinterprets the haptic qualities of skin, making it look as though it were streaked with fine scars.
Mario Dilitz, born in 1973 in Innsbruck, currently works and lives in Axams near Innsbruck. His sculptures have been shown at various art fairs and galleries around the globe.
