Artur Rosenauer

2024

Josef Mikl's ‘works on paper’ (and cardboard) can certainly be considered a genre in their own right against the background of his other works. They are certainly closer to his monumental canvas paintings than to his drawings, but their peculiarities justify a focussed view. Mikl began painting on cardboard early on, although these works have a more private character compared to the large, so to speak official canvases. This privacy, which also means greater freedom, explains why no other group in Mikl's oeuvre is as rich in variations as his works on paper.
With the abstract compositions (cf. Two Figures with Disc 1992/93 or Blue Mountains 1992/93) he is closest to his canvas paintings. Like these, they appear monumental regardless of their absolute dimensions. The movement of the hand creates curved paths that push against each other with the tension of steel springs and lend the composition vitality. With a few bright colours - red and blue, occasionally yellow and orange - reminiscent of trumpet notes, Mikl achieves the effect of a large orchestra. Compared to this, the other works on paper - and this is the majority - are characterised by a lyrically restrained colourfulness. Chamber music as opposed to orchestral sound. In most cases, these are still lifes, which, however, do not fit into the European still life tradition at all. Mikl favours objects that give the impression that he had them ‘at hand’ by chance: a curly duck (1980), a bishop's figure (1983), teddy bears (1984), tin soldiers (1973), but also edible objects such as a potato, a loaf of bread or a pumpkin (1980/81) - rounded, voluminous shapes. All in all, a very personal and unpretentious repertoire. It is also personal because he combines things in a way that one would hardly expect to find them together in reality: a wooden figure with bread (1981), a bowl and wooden toy (1981) or tulips and paper sacks (1974). Potatoes and grapefruit (1977) are not exactly a convincing culinary combination either. Such combinations only make sense in view of the painted result.