New Constructivism By Dr. Werner Horvath The paintings of Werner Horvath. He calls his style "New Constructivism" after the philosophical theory, based on the works of Vico, Uexküll, Glasersfeld, Watzlawick and others. The theoretical background is explained in detail by the artist in a stage play in form of a text-collage, called Jahrtausendwende - Die Theorie des neuen bildenden Konstruktivismus (in German). Horvath tries to show in his paintings, that the so-called reality is not so "real" at all, for the world we live in can be understood as constructed by ourselves. For instance, colors do not really exist, but are products of the visual system and therefore are only "real" within our consciousness. But also forms of all kind have no reality outside our subjective world; on the contrary they are built up by several psychological mechanisms. And at last we have to take into consideration, that we live in a "symbolic world": We see Stalin not only as a politician who lived from 1879 to 1953, but also as a symbol of dictatorship and cruelty. As precursors of his style Horvath names Giuseppe Arcimboldo and M.C.Escher. Most of Horvath's paintings are influenced by political events or deal with political problems. . Werner Horvath's paintings have been very much influenced by political events like the student revolts in the sixties, Vietnam and the "spring revolt" in Prague. Exhibitions: "Icones politiques", Paris 1994, "Lide Ikony - Critical Icons", C.Budejovice, "Different Neuro-radiological Images", Linz 1995, "Mittelpunkt Mensch", C.Budejovice 1996, "Ars politica" in the Czech Embassy in Vienna 1997, "Pain and Pleasure" (participation), C.Budejovice 1997, "Metamorphose" and "Rouge et Noir", Linz 1997 and others. by Werner Horvath "JFK" Oil on canvas 40 x 50 cm 1993 Scenes from the life of John F. Kennedy, including also Marilyn Monroe - a historical picture-book. --Artists Description   by Werner Horvath "The Fanatic" Oil on canvas 40 x 50 cm 1993 The distorted faces of Adolf Hitler are looking like death-masks. Dark colors, viscous blood-red shapes - another symbolic description of National socialist ideology. --Artists Description by Werner Horvath "Gulf War" Oil on canvas 40 x 50 cm 1993 Khomeini, Saddam Hussein, George Bush and the flames of war. --Artists Description   Copyright © 1999 Dr. Werner Horvath Dr. Werner Horvath all rights reserved. Website: http://www.medicalnet.at/horvath/museum.htm E-mail: horvath@medicalnet.at Biography Index Articles are copyrighted© to their respective owners Copyright © 1999 - present International Fine Art Journal For Social Change. All Rights Reserved.