Tim Wirth: My Favorite Artists Are Farmers
May 26th, 2011 by Amy Zurcher |
| “Heart 2009-2011″, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 “I grew up on a family farm in rural Iowa. A year after finishing studies at SCAD, I returned to a small town (Buffalo Center) where I work full-time as a painter with my wife and two children. In the spring and fall I help my oldest brother with his farming operations (he owns and operates the family farm which is 10 miles from where I live.)” - Tim Wirth (M.F.A. painting, 2008)
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| Tim Wirth operating tractor on family farm in Iowa |
I am not sure you can find a bigger fan of Tim Wirth than someone working at shopSCAD. With the exception of our newest staff members hired just two months ago, everyone at shopSCAD owns AT LEAST two Tim Wirth paintings. I don’t give it long ’til our newbies will start their own Tim collection! Are we just crazy? No, his work is contagious – infectious, even – and delightfully so. The text and colors grab hold of you, pulling you in with their humble musings. Visitors to the shop seem to lock on to one at first sight, confused by how much they are drawn to it and how it seems to have been made just for them – like Tim sent them a personal message. More than one collector has expressed upon viewing his work that Tim’s particular style of painting is not something they would normally be attracted to, how they are surprised by how taken they are with it, and is that wrong? I emphatically tell them no, this is soooo right and launch into a something near to a love sonnet about how much we all love his work at the shop and how many paintings we have sold over the years. Frequently, collectors at shopSCAD will buy two or three of his paintings at a time or travel home with one, only to call a short time later to request another. These paintings have charisma, I tell you! I am very excited to share that he will be featured in New American Paintings, #95 Midwest edition.
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| “God’s Breath”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Excerpt from Tim:
In late 2008, Tim Wirth began organizing his studio practice around building square paintings that function as three-dimensional objects. Although they have an intended front display and are framed to hang on a wall, the backsides also feature a painted image consisting of date, location, title, and signature. Wirth’s unique craftsmanship and his democratic approach to pricing and selling his work has attracted collectors and investors from across the United States as well as the UK.
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| “Untitled Machine”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
“The idea was to find a way to explore any visual terrain I wanted without getting lost. For the most part I painted on squares anyway, so it wasn’t hard to limit myself to that format. A square is a fundamental shape – it’s got an inherent truth and logic about it. The formalist in me gravitates to it, requires it even… Many of the images and language in the work arrives through improvisation. Occasionally it’s premeditated. Sometimes it’s graceful and sometimes it’s clumsy, but every individual painting belongs to that larger context – that family of squares. And each painting, regardless of whether it’s a hit or a miss, contributes to the whole and is interesting in its own way. I like that, both in painting and elsewhere… For these reasons it also made sense to make them attainable and price them all the same. I like the idea of someone being able to own more than one, or collecting them not as paintings to hang but as objects to store in an attic or basement, something to dust off and look at every few years when it’s in the way. They are, first and foremost, objects. Not unlike baseball cards or muscle cars, but much better. And more fun and satisfying to own than savings bonds or gold coins.” - Tim Wirth
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| “The Searchers”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Each Tim Wirth painting is constructed from premium pine, birch panel, and framed with 1/4″ white pine that’s sanded down to a smooth finish. The standard square size is 25″x 25″x 2″. Current 2011 pricing is $595 each.
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| “Untitled (Abstract)”, oil on panel, 17″ x 17″, $195 |
Amy: When did you know you were an artist?
Tim: I still think of myself as just somebody who makes paintings. If I’m asked, I usually say, “I’m a painter,” but most people think that means I paint walls, houses, and such. I don’t correct them unless I have to.
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| “Untitled (Diamond)”, oil on panel, 17″ x 17″, $195 |
Amy: How would you describe your work?
Tim: Colorful, charming, and good.
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| “The Things I Know Best Are The Same Things I Don’t”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: What motivates you to make work?
Tim: I like things that really exist. I like the way people go about doing things. I’m just as interested in watching a person try to put a dog in their car as I am in seeing a Matisse in person.
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| Tim’s studio |
Amy: What kind of person do you think buys your work?
Tim: I’m not very sure – I think it ranges greatly. Old and young. Men and women. I’m not sure there’s any consistent thread, though I’m sure I’d get along nicely with all of them.
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| “Invisible Man”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: What challenges do you face when creating?
Tim: For myself and where I live, the isolation can be challenging. I don’t live around people who make art. But I do get to be around farmers, who have always fascinated me. They’re an impressive breed. I think all my favorite artists are farmers.
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| “You Are My Sunshine”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: How do you know when a painting is finished?
Tim: When it has no use for me anymore. It’s a pretty definitive moment. The paintings starts to act like a rebellious teenager who wants out of the house. And to be honest, when it gets to that point I’m happy to kick it out the door and see how it handles itself.
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| “Big Cub, Little Cub”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: What is the most important thing to you about your work?
Tim: I’m not sure. If the total sum of what I do amounts to nothing more than reminding somebody that they’ve got more freedom than their using, then I’m happy. And I suppose the job of any artist is to remind people of that – that we’ve got more freedom than we think we do.
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| “Pretty Baby”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: How is your work different now than a year (or more) ago?
Tim: It’s tightened up. I’m more fluent and comfortable. Making things is sort of like inventing a language and it takes time to build the vocabulary before you can start making sense of the subtext.
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| “Ladies and Gentlemen, Chuck Berry”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: What music are you listening to?
Tim: I bought a Lefty Frizzell album recently which I’ve been enjoying. I like old blues, old country and early rock – old straightforward stuff that embraces its limitations. Recordings that give you the sense that the musician had to show up, play once, sing once, and let the chips fall as they may in order to get a record cut. I think that’s sort of the same approach I have to painting. Give it a good try and let it do as it does.
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| “George Jones Sings Country & Western Hits”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: Any advice you would give to current SCAD student and other aspiring artists?
Tim: You’ve got to make stuff you don’t like in order to understand how to make things you do like. So make things whenever you can with whatever you have. Nobody has the right answers, so there’s no harm in following your own ideas. If you’re happy with what you’ve done, then be proud. If not, fix it.
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| “Tombstone (The Sunshine Never Stops)”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
Amy: If you could collaborate with any other artist, who would that be (AND if you can think of anything, what would you be creating?)
Tim: I’d like to build a dinner table with a resurrected H.C. Westermann.
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| “Bob Feller, Old Yeller and Jesus Christ”, oil on panel with hatchet, 45″ x 45″, $1800 |
Amy: You use a lot of text in your words, some seem to be urging viewer to take stock in themselves and other are humbling words – a recurring theme of working man blues pops up. Can you elaborate on this theme and the importance of text in your work?
Tim: I like the straightforwardness text offers. I like clarity and confidence. I don’t like art that tries to disguise itself. I like stuff that steps up to the plate spitting, ready to swing. Text lets me be clear in such an overt way that it kind of invites mystery back on itself.
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| “The Devils Work is Done in the Daylight”, oil on plywood, 24″ x 30″, $595 |
Amy: Do current politics play a role in this?
Tim: I think so. Our political system is a fascinating thing to watch – the best and the worst of human nature on display like a carousel. I like seeing history unfold in real time, so I follow things closely, though I don’t feel political myself. I look for logic and grace – I don’t have any use for delusions and cynicism. And the same is true with art.
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| “Logic + Grace = Light”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
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| “Tombstone (Adios)”, oil on panel, 25″ x 25″, $595 |
To fully appreciate Tim’s work one must flip it to the other side. This is just one example of how Tim finishes off his pieces so well you hesitate to hang it up and never look upon the back.
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| My son Charlie’s room made complete with a Tim Wirth “Rotating” painting! |
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| shopSCAD staffer Kyle Millsap has an impressive collection of 4 Tim paintings. Here is one with dog Bitsy. |
I love love love him! Do you guys still have the "Let's Move to the Mountains" painting or have you sold it? It was one of my favs from ATL.
He's truly an American classic. Secretly, I feel it's my personal duty to put at least in the home of every citizen. It's just the right thing to do.