Kunstmagazin PARNASS - 29 May 202 - original in German - translated into English below
While sculpture was originally still bound to a fixed location and thus often only equipped with a front view - one thinks here of the early grave slabs in church floors, or also the sacred representations of the Mother of God in niches, the backs of which were often left raw - over time sculpture has moved more and more into the open space, the view from all sides, the literal "walking" of the work of art has become increasingly important and central.
This all-round view is unavoidable in the works of Mario Dilitz. His frontally standing sculptures, some of which are as large as people, show people who look towards the viewer without much facial expression. The technique and the formal language is a thoroughly classical one and goes back to the beginnings of sculpture: formed and carved out of wood. But the figures themselves are located in the here and now. A little boy holding an object behind his back. Clad only in a bath towel around his hips, the assumption is that it is a surfboard that the boy is carrying here, like a picture in the social networks. But no, he is holding a fish. A fish? Yes! A certain irony but also surreality intervenes here. Mario Dilitz's models for his figures are anonymous. He often uses the physiognomy of black people - not as a political message, but because he spent a long time in Africa.
Mario Dilitz prefers to work with various types of wood for his sculptures. Initially, the individual pieces of wood are glued together, whereby the traces of glue are visible to the outside due to the colouring of the glue used. This resulting block is then treated in the classical way, the wood is removed, thus freeing the body, the figure. At which points the mostly red or black traces of glue become visible can only be guessed at first. The result is astonishing, since it is always this body that captivates the viewer with its fixed gaze forward.
Time and again, Dilitz has individual figures cast in bronze. Like the wooden sculptures, these have an enormous delicacy and refinement and leave the viewer in awe. Classical material, classical medium meets a contemporary world view here.
