Reviews

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Martin Patřičný works with wood, a material used by people from time immemorial. Trees play important roles in religions of nearly all cultures. There was the Tree of Life in Paradise, an apple from which caused expulsion of Adam and Eve. The old Germans worshipped a holy ash tree named Yggdrasil, old Slavonic gods were worshipped in sacred groves. Whisper of wind in leaves reminds us of music. This may be why trees came to comfort Orpheus after the loss of Eurydice:

“After the bard, sprung from the Gods, had seated himself in this place, and touched his tuneful strings, a shade came over the spot. The tree of Chaonia was not absent, nor the grove of the Heliades, nor the mast-tree with its lofty branches, nor the tender lime-trees, nor yet the beech, and the virgin laurel, and the brittle hazels, and the oak, adapted for making spears, and the fir without knots, and the holm bending beneath its acorns, and the genial plane-tree, and the parti-coloured maple, and, together with them, the willows growing by the rivers, and the watery lotus, and the evergreen box, and the slender tamarisks, and the two-coloured myrtle, and the tine-tree, with its azure berries. You, too, the ivy-trees, with your creeping tendrils, came, and together, the branching vines, and the elms clothed with vines; the ashes, too, and the pitch-trees, and the arbute, laden with its blushing fruit, and the bending palm, the reward of the conqueror; the pine, too, with its tufted foliage, and bristling at the top, pleasing to the Mother of the Gods; since for this the Cybele’s Attis put off the human form, and hardened into that trunk.” [translation of “Metamorphoses” by Henry T. Riley]

This praise of trees, which provide the basic material not only for wood carvers, is a fitting introduction to the life and creative work of Martin Patřičný.
Visual artist Martin Patřičný continues the tradition of one of his ancestors; they worked with wood for generations. His uncle Karel Rubáš, wood carver and lathe operator from the town of Janovice nad Úhlavou, led him in his youth to mastering the craft. Martin began as a woodcutter. He worked in the forest near the town of Vlašim for two years. In the 1980s, his interest in wood lathing and carving became more intensive. At the time of the political break, Martin was making original music stands, which attracted the attention of both experts and the public. After 1989 he made up his mind and began to earn his living as a freelance artist. His first separate exhibition took place in Na Příkopech, Prague in 1991 (a catalogue with Jan Pohribný’s photographs). Martin displayed works of art and also some wooden accessories there. Smaller exhibitions in Týnec nad Sázavou, Strakonice and museum in Slaný followed. He not only made his work known to the public, but also received their feedback. Self-reflection based on it was an important stimulus for his further work.

Media interest in his work came in 1993 after his exhibition in Rudolfinum, Prague, organised by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the Justitz Gallery. The same year, he was invited to participate in an exhibition which took place in Austria (Jan Brabenec). He continued making the original music stands and displayed them at exhibitions of HAMU (Lesser Town Square, Prague, 1994), a prestigious fair of musical instruments inFrankfurt on Main (1995) and “Wood and Music” in the Municipal House, Prague, 1998. His first large catalogue is published in 1996 for the second HAMU exhibition (photographs by Vladimír Svoboda, graphics by Dan Pešta). In 1997 he had exhibitions in the castle in Klášterec nad Ohří, the Tower Gallery, Mělník, and the Ikast Gallery, Denamrk. His exhibition activities were not attenuated in the years 1998 to 2000.

Let us at least refer to the grand-scale project which took place in the National Museum in Prague, called the Wood of Fair Trees (autumn 1998 to winter 1999). His book of the same name was introduced to the public here as well. He also arranged the so-called Wooden Night there, at which he spoke about working with wood and presented poetry and live music of his guests.
These events did not go by unnoticed in the cultural public. This may have been the reason why Martin Patřičný was chosen to take part in announcing the Day of Trees and Wood In the National Museum, Prague, together with V. Větvička, Hana Hegerová and the Partnership Foundation in 2000. Exhibition Day of Trees was installed there in the same year (M. Patřičný – wooden objects, V. Michálek – photographs). In 1999 Martin expressed his thoughts in a book of fiction, called “Patřičný, Not Only Wood” (published by Ivo Železný). At that time he had already written two books on his experiences with wood: “Working with Wood” (Grada 1998, three editions) and “Wood of Fair Trees” (Ivo Železný 1998, two editions; and a third, reworked edition by Grada 2005). There is still demand for both of these books on the market.

A great period of Martin’s exhibitions abroad came in 2003 to 2005. In spring and summer of 2004 he went for a series of exhibitions in the Netherlands (the Hague, Naarden), organised by the Dutch Foundation de Boscant, the Hague Czech Cultural Centre, and the Comenius Museum. In the following year it was Stockholm (Czech Cultural Centre), International Fair of Crafts in Munich, and Liège. His work was rewarded by Médaille Bronze – Art-Décoratif from Fédération Nationale de la Culture Française in 2004.

In 2005 he had a large exhibition in the “U prstenu” Gallery, Prague, and took part in the Salon International d’Art Moderne, Versailles, where he won Médaille de Vermeil. In the following year he exhibited in the “Studna” Gallery in Liberec and “Celebris” Gallery in Hradec Králové. He sent his works to the Salon des Indépendants, Paris, in 2006 and 2007. On the break of the years 2006-2007 he displayed a selection of his work (together with painter Miroslav Houšť) in the Parliament of the Czech Republic, and later in “Vodárenská věž” in Tábor, „Ikaros“ In Slaný and “Výtvarná scána” in Karolinum, Prague. In March 2008 he presented his work in the North York Centre – Public Library Toronto, Canada.

Martin is also active in popularisation, as we can see in the 26-instalment series “Piece of Wood from a Tree,” which he prepared in cooperation with Bedřich Ludvík for the “Wood for Life” Foundation as a co-author of the script and the presenter of all instalments on the screen. Czech TV broadcast the first half of the series in 2008, and we can look forward to viewing the second part in 2009.
Martin Patřičný’s work has several directions. His wooden statues, such as lying down (2/10) are based on the traditions of both European (e.g., Henry Moore) and Czech (e.g., F. Bílek, L. Zívr) art. Patřičný’s contribution is his sensitive understanding of the “wood talk,” that is, the natural structure, colours and haptic qualities. We can see that many of his works are inspired by music: village concert (8), after the dance (1/24), autumn violin (25).

His own inventions include compositions, collages and mosaics made of multicoloured woods with different surface finishes. The traditional intarsia techniques are further developed here, and inspired by supermatism, informel or collages created by Jiří Kolář, for example. In older wooden objects he combines wood with clippings from books, newspapers or music, up to a hundred years old (Landscape with Violin, oak and chestnut, 2000). Wall-hanging objects can be classified into two main visual categories. The first one can be called abstract, emphasising the sensual beauty of shapes, colours and contrast between the smooth surface and relief, wave board (1/10), assorted woods, 70 × 56 cm. The second category is metaphysically subjective, with reminiscences of old memories expressed by the added articles or old wood such as old messages (4/11) and tower building (13). Martin’s top workmanship enables him to use wood as his communication means with an ease not everybody can achieve.

In the world of modern technologies, which take us away from nature, Martin Patřičný’s wooden objects bring sensual beauty with an exhilarating return to the world of imagination...

Prof. PhDr. Ing. Jan Royt
autumn 2008

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Two Pictures by M. Patřičný

In order to be able to write this text I had to drive to my cottage near the town of Kralupy. There I took down from the wall Martin Patřičný’s picture Regarding Eroticism to take it to Prague with me. My girlfriend and I had bought it half-and-half and agreed that, if we ever separate, we would cut the picture in the middle. In Prague I hung the picture next to another of Martin’s pictures I own, called Wooden Bookshelf. He gave it to me after we finished the “Piece of Wood from a Tree” series, in which he presented to TV viewers more than 30 kinds of wood, but also his studio, home, library, grandson Jirka and favourite poems of Emanuel Frynta, other poets, and his own.

I was looking at those two pictures and trying to find inside myself a reason why I decided, at 55 years of age, to own a work of art and why I look forward to all pieces of “Patřičný wood” I will save money for.

Wooden pictures and all artefacts made by Martin have several layers to perceive. It is hard to explain to anybody who has not seen any of them, what multilayer and meaningful qualities they have. If I say that Martin Patřičný puts different pieces of wood together, people nod their heads and reply: “Oh, I see, intarsia!“

Oh no, my God, nothing like that! Martin Patřičný does not make intarsia, far from that. Intarsia, that is just an ornament, brilliant but empty decoration, perhaps a pastime showing off good workmanship. I can imagine a prisoner making it to pass the time faster.

Martin’s “wooden pictures” are completely elsewhere. No mannerism, stereotype, or a meaningless jigsaw puzzle. Well, what are they then? They may be close to a very specific kind of collage. They put together many things: noble wood, ugly wood, hand-written text, fragments of printed matter and newspaper pictures. But first and foremost, wood of all kinds.
They attract you so that you come from a long distance, intrigued by their warm, soft, inviting colours. Then you step closer and the picture embraces you with a wooden universe of its own. Materials it is made of, tell you their own, independent stories. As a whole, each his picture is boyishly playful and seems casual, while details are characterised by perfection, which may even feel cold somehow. Topics, compositions and attitudes are communicative, storytelling. You feel good, step even closer, and encounter an infinite sub-world of painfully perfectionist workmanship. Each piece of wood large and small is a picture of its own, a miniature.

Of course, analysis of a whole into a large number of minute details can be found in many paintings. There were old masters who obviously took a lot of pleasure in that. But... they had full control over their details. They think them up and then paint them. Wooden details of Martin’s works tell us a different story. Carefully planing his pictures’ compositions, he willingly lets chance enter their details. Aleatoric music within a symphonic poem... The contrast between a highly organised whole and highly unrestrained details speak loudly from Martin’s pictures.

And that is not the end. The most significant point is still to come: touch. If you are not allowed to touch work of other artists, you simply have to touch Martin’s pictures! I am not saying you must examine them all over, but leaving out the touch would be a mistake. This is the real final “touch” without which you can not fully appreciate his work.

Yes, his pieces are made of wood, sometimes many kinds, sometimes a single one. But this tactile consummation, intimate insight into the world of the wood, brings an experience no painting can give you. Paints on canvas are, after all, artificial. But here you can communicate with the most natural material, wood, older than mankind.

I have had those two pictures of Martin’s for nearly a year now, and I enjoy them like a stay in a spa.

Two small remarks at the end:
On the way home from the cottage with the Regarding Eroticism picture, I had to go by metro and tram as well. I was holding the picture under my arm, and it could be seen. Both in the metro and the tram, attention of all women, from young girls to elderly ladies, was immediately attracted to it. I suddenly understood that his pictures are quite erotic.

Before I sat down to write this text, I had a careful look at the picture. It consists of 40 pieces of wood. How can Mr Patřičný persuade such a sensible man as I am to give him half of my monthly salary for a mere forty small pieces of wood!?

How come? He is an artist, that’s it!

Bedřich Ludvík
film director and song writer

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The Myth of Wood Viewed as an Art

This is an essay written by Prof. Dr. Miroslav Klivar, World Distributed University, Brussels.

The history of wood tells a story of its use as a sensual material in the pure and applied arts of all time periods. We can follow the evolution from the aesthetical perception by civilised man of the beauty of wood in everyday life to the highest expressions of artistic activities, freed of the original mythological and ritual functions and becoming an autonomous branch of art. Wood has, to this day, remained a living sensual material, for example in Africa, Asia, Japan and Far East cultures: say, as utilitarian objects or sculptures.

Martin Patřičný’s works are unambiguously classified as spiritual visual art, in which the wood’s aesthetic values and functions are dominant rather than secondary, as in the applied arts. His work fully complies with the criteria set forth by the classical science of art and aesthetics:

  1. The artist works with matter using specific techniques;
  2. The work is characterised by its artistic basis;
  3. It has a value of expression;
  4. It has a dimension, or language, of its own—the form of the style used.

Here we are mainly applying the criteria set forth, for example, by aesthetician Emil Utitz in the history of aesthetics of the 20th century.

However, the originality of Martin Patřičný’s work requires a deeper analysis of its qualities. At first sight we can see that the traditional approach to reviewing artwork is insufficient; we have to follow the most recent findings of world art theory.

Firstly, we are concerned with semiotics and semantic aesthetics, which deal with the theory of signs. Semiotics enables us to grasp the notion of wood as a sign—one work, as a whole, is a symbol, consisting of multiple signs. We can follow the process of semiosis, which reveals the notional functions of aesthetic signs. A set of signs sets up a “symbolic situation,” which points out fragments of the whole (relationships of signs to the object, or the mental representation of the object, etc.).

According to Charles Morris, a sign’s subject is a denotation of the object that is represented by that sign; the same author also speaks of signs that have so-called fictitious denotations (we can find such signs in Martin Patřičný’s work: “Labyrint světa a ráj dětství” [The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Childhood], 2001), which are related to the so-called connotations—meanings of a named object made of wood. It is a movement of illusion.

From the viewpoint of art theory, the best for our purposes is semantic pluralism (C. Ogden, I.A. Richards, James Wood, etc.), which applies a critical approach to the interpretation of beauty and art: “beautiful” can, for example, refer to specific properties of the object, an expression of genius, revelation of a higher truth, game, etc. These are substantial features of Martin Patřičný’s work.

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From the aesthetical viewpoint, there are two main classes of Martin Patřičný’s works: “free-form sculptures” and “pictures.” Symbolic signs dominate in his free-form sculptures. They are not signs representing things but symbols of aesthetic ideas, abstract aesthetic values not concerned with the purpose of the object. Such sculptures express “unrestrained joy and open enjoyment of the form.” Martin Patřičný’s works bring about an aesthetic impression and observation, which are conveyed to the viewers. His artistic experience is instinctive, and the whole prevails over its components, i.e., there is aesthetic harmony.

His “pictures” made of sensual wood sometimes contain stories written by the material and its structures. Yes, Patřičný respects the wood's texture and makes it a part of his works. They are not mosaics or decorative walls; they are pictures as such, which define spaces, inter-spaces, surfaces, intersections, etc.; the laws of painting composition are fully complied with.

They are most impressive without frames, emphasising the artist’s feeling of free expression. There are even works of his that place human language and the wood “scripture” side by side (“Písmo člověka a stromu” [Song of Man and Tree], Parts 1 and 2).

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A master of his craft, Patřičný reveals more than just the mythological meanings of wood in art. Here I refer to the collective unconsciousness—archetypes according to the psychologist C.G. Jung, archaic forms of emotions and images. In his compositions we can observe the “magnetic field” of archetypes, the dark/light bipolar structure (“Loď komediantů” [Show Boat], “Staré vzkazy” [Old Messages], 2001). The artist tells us a story of fates. The titles of his works are not decisive. The main point is their spiritual content (“Slza” [Teardrop], 2002). Some of his works could be understood as “landscapes of the soul”—their author loves animism, inspiration and soulfulness—for example “V krajině” [In the Landscape]. He finds music there (“Krajina s houslemi” [Landscape with a Violin], 2000); nature is music for him, and he tries to listen to it. The “painting” qualities are found at every step: values of natural colours of the wood, sometimes mysteriously hidden in a circle, triangle or a teardrop shape.

Master Martin Patřičný is a seeker of mythological meaning of wood in art.