Artistic expression in abstract art often requires a synesthetic experience. The artist Richard Fuchs gives in a phenomenological way insights into a world of feelings that many artists experience during such a process. A journey that tells of the failure to the extatic adventure.
By ANDRÉ CHAHIL | Photo © Quirin Leppert
Mr. Fuchs, is it adventurous with painting?
Yes, indeed, the word hits the nail on the head. You can only plan an adventure to a certain extent. You just get into it. It can put you in serious danger and harm you if you’re unlucky. At the same time, an adventure is so intense that you live off it for a long time. For example, I was on a volcano to collect motifs when it suddenly erupted. It was indescribably frightening. But it made me addicted to more. In retrospect, it even made me happy. I can always „recall“ that feeling, even years later.
In your opinion, are you unlucky or lucky with art?
Quite a bit of luck. „Art“ is nevertheless a term that is unfortunately applied inflationarily. Yet there is so much truth in it. So much weight. Words are often not enough. It is mysticism, almost magic.
There is something secret in art. The connections with me as a human being, with my life, my happiness are extremely fascinating. I only know that with the help of art I succeed in setting things in motion that have penetrating power. It always feels fundamentally right. As for me, I can always fully rely on art, a piece of unshakable security.
BLUE DEEP UNIVERSE, 100 x 100 cm | Year 2021 – oil and acrylic, marble powder, ink, spray paint, graphite, pigments on canvas | Photo © Richard Fuchs
What about other arts with you – so not only painting?
Music also means a lot to me, the smallest noises and different sounds. When the acoustics hit my inner core, it has an almost hypnotic or extatic effect on me. I would say without sound there is no image. This is directly related, in this case one speaks of synesthesia. The photography also captivates me. Especially the old black and white prints, the chemical-physical processes in this process – and the special atmosphere in the darkroom – that is something very special! And in general, so much has to do with „art“: The art of science. The art of the mind to deal with numbers or abstract processes. Or the aerobatics with model airplanes, etc. (…)
KUNSTHALLE SCHWEINFURT, Germany | Exhibition in 2023 „Das Bild ist die Landschaft“ | Photo © Kunsthalle Schweinfurt/Richard Fuchs
What meaning do the stars have for you?
In earlier times, I spent a lot of time with the stars. In the truest sense of the word. I used to recreate the entire starry sky on huge wooden boards, which I painted midnight blue, by drilling thousands of holes and illuminating them from behind. I then photographed that, along with homemade moons that I cast out of plaster and painted or specially lit. At that time, I was close to studying propulsion technology for space travel. I am very enthusiastic about technology. The natural sciences, chemistry and physics had already taken a fancy to me at a young age. Hence the exhibition project with the Fraunhofer Institute, for which I artistically processed the entire periodic table of the elements. There were works made of pure gold and silver or precious stone. I even constructed the Big Bang as a film work in a project.
My minimalist work is painterly concentrate -.
Atmosphere, intuition and vastness reflect the special moment: harmonizing with sand, rock, volcanic ash, various metals, minerals and high-quality pigments in composition. (R. Fuchs, 2020)
Gold and silver … this sounds like wealth and investment – is your art to collect?
Often money gets in the way of art. Personally, I think it’s a shame when art just goes into the vault to linger there as a stock, so to speak. Art is already valuable when it is created and is authentic and transports something from the person who creates it. Then art moves something. If it is only made to serve the market, it is no longer different from a conventional product or a mass product. It is then no longer alive. Then it is not able to do more than generate money movements. I am of the opinion that art is not there for that. Of course, one can collect my art. But it should then remain visible and be accessible to other people … and above all inspire.
METEORIT, 250 x 270 cm, 2006. Exhibition view at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Munich 2009 | Photo © Richard Fuchs
What ideas do you incorporate into your paintings?
Actually only one: the mood or atmosphere of the spatial expanse. Everything else that then plays into it are subordinate fragments of thought processes of an abstract nature. It is mainly the color. Pigments and material from nature are pure inspiration on their own. They almost unleash themselves. And if it then looks as if somewhere in my paintings figures, animals, buildings or other objects appear, then this is a respective momentum of the work. Everything finds itself as if by itself. It even goes so far that the pictures and the people who want to own them find themselves. These are mostly unbelievable coincidences…
… for the readers, an example please?!
The whole thing already starts with the circumstances under which a work is created. Mostly it is illogical: time is short and I lack the mood or the concentration. In addition, perhaps the strength. And then comes a crystal-clear moment when I realize: the time has come! As if I would wake up. Then a work comes into being. Everything that has built up and accumulated in my head of possible details and foundations for a new picture materializes. This happens very concentrated and slowly.
And then there are those who want to own the work. Often these people have been looking for a work that fulfills them for a very long time, for many years. And then they discover it. One of my works. Not in an exhibition or on the Internet. No: often literally on the street, for example while I am setting up an exhibition. Or on the wall of a friend’s house. And of course in galleries, and there also often when the works seem to „hide“ as if by chance without staging in the next room.
ORAKEL, 310 x 200 cm | Year 2022 – oil, acrylic, glass beads, spray paint, marble powder, metals, pigments | Photo © Richard Fuchs
Which artists from history would you like to have met in person?
Many works by Antoni Tàpies, who was known for his Informel, have a stirring effect on me. One of my former gallery owners had collected some of his work, including a large-scale piece several meters long. The radiance takes over the room. Watching him at work would certainly have been instructive. Also to be mentioned would be the artist Luigi Pericle – what a special person he was, so special also his art! It is wondrous how he dealt with beauty, aesthetics and the mysterious, unfathomable.
What truth is there for you?
I know that I know nothing …
… experimenting and making mistakes often take you the farthest!
Do you live by any wisdom?
Have patience … and still be active and pursue ideas. You have to sow a lot to be able to reap something at some point. It’s a life’s work. I try to learn it anew every day. It is important to listen to yourself all the time. To get the courage to dream or fantasize. Somehow everything is often difficult and yet it can be, as so often … a game.
Mr. Fuchs, thank you for the interview.
Photo © Richard Fuchs
Richard Fuchs, *born on 08.11.1972 in Gräfelfing, Munich / 1987 entry into the Euro Grafitti Union (EGU) with Professor Dr. Kreuzer, 1992 technical high school for design, 1993 co-founder of the ‚Wandlandtheater‘, active in and around Munich. Writing, staging and performing his own theater productions, realizing stage designs, 1996 graduation in visual merchandising at ‚Ludwig Beck am Rathauseck‘ in Munich / 1996 large-scale facade designs / art on buildings in the greater Munich area / 1997 co-founder and publisher of the literary subculture magazine ‚dieser text‘ and co-founder of the literary performance group ‚Die Schwanenwerft‘ / 1998 responsible engagement in publishing houses and advertising agencies as an art director, 2005 scientific exhibition series with the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and the Max Planck Institute, among others. Richard Fuchs lives and has his artistic work in Castell, Bavaria.
