Martha Jungwirth Der Wurm, 2022

Most of the monumental work Der Wurm (The Worm, 2022) is bare, with only a twist and a blotch of paint in Jungwirth’s characteristic purples reaching up across the brown paper support. The artist’s free-flowing, instinctive approach to painting is brought to an extreme in this work, with only these two gestures taking centre stage. Thwarting any search for deeper meaning, the work was inspired by Walter Serner’s Dada manifesto Letzte Lockerung (Last Loosening), first published in 1920. A cofounder of Dada and brilliant observer of society, Serner offers a practical guide for the modern amoralist in the volume’s second part, subverting the illusions and stereotypes underpinning social conventions. His ultimate conclusion: ‘The world wants to be deceived. And it becomes truly malevolent if you don’t oblige.’ Taking the title of Serner’s handbook as a key word or motto, Der Wurm embodies Jungwirth’s own almost Dadaist attitude to painting with absolute freedom. As the artist explains: ‘Everything is open, and all my works are informed by conviction and sincerity. The gesture can stand on its own – the ultimate loosening of the gesture is my goal.’