The (former) East German painter Neo Rauch made his debut at the age of 33, four years after the fall of the Wall. Just twenty years later, his disturbing paintings are to be found in the world’s major museums. Bozar is currently presenting a survey of his work in Brussels.
Neo Rauch is one of the leading painters of his generation. He was born in Leipzig in 1960, a biographical fact of some importance. In his early works he often referred to the former DDR (German Democratic Republic) and its downfall. Not just via his employment of a drab colour palette, but also through depictions of empty factories, sections of the Wall, and border checkpoints, which were often combined with the visual idiom of the utopian posters of the 1950s.
Gradually, Rauch’s sources became more diverse and he began to allow his imagination free rein, which resulted in baroque compositions that evoke a surrealistic dream world. His paintings became bigger too: veritable tableaux, teeming with colourful characters, in which Biedermeier figures and DDR soldiers are to be seen side by side. Rauch makes use of a variety of narrative threads, often allegorical in nature, which are combined in anachronistic ways. Take, for example, the painting entitled Nest (see illustration on opposite page), in which we see a group of people, including two men in modern military uniform who are painting in the open air. One of them – a disguised self-portrait of Rauch – is being advised by a man in Rubensesque costume. They pay no attention to what is happening below them on the canvas, where two insects with gigantic pincers are battling with each other.
Neo Rauch: what you dream is what you get
Nest is a startling work that leaves you with more questions than answers. It is one of forty paintings selected for the Brussels exhibition by its curator, Harald Kunde. In addition to paintings, the Bozar show also includes a number of drawings. “The drawings are important for understanding Rauch’s artistic development,” says Kunde, who is also a friend of Rauch’s. He has known the artist since the 1980s and has been well-placed to observe his personal and artistic development.
The exhibition is presented in reverse chronological order: its circuit starts with recent works and takes you back in time. Why did you choose that approach?
Harald Kunde: That was because of the architecture of Bozar’s Centre for Fine Arts [the exhibition follows the rue Ravensteinstraat circuit - SaS]. Rauch’s recent paintings are much larger than his early works. So the circuit begins with Zähmung, a gigantic painting that dates from 2011. After that it takes you back, in seven stages, to his early days in 1993.
Rauch grew up under the DDR regime. How important was that for his oeuvre?
Kunde: It was very important. But it is not his only source. In the 1980s he studied at a renowned art school in Leipzig [Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, SaS] where students were taught by excellent East German teachers. It was important for Rauch, however, that the Wall came down at the right moment. He was in his late twenties when the world completely changed and he was able to make a new beginning. He wasn’t too young, but he wasn’t too old, either, to pick up new influences from the West. With those two different sources he created his own, unique style. If he had grown up in the West, he would have missed out on that influence from East Germany, and vice versa.
The sources he incorporates into his paintings are highly diverse, ranging from DDR children’s books to comic strips, posters, historical paintings, etc.
Kunde: Rauch makes use of a whole lot of sources. Comic strips were very important for him. In East Germany there was only one comic strip, the Digedags, which enjoy real cult status. It was a major source of inspiration for Rauch. But there were also the early US comic strips of the 1940s and 1950s, mainly in black and white. Rauch often uses text balloons. For the most part, they are empty. But sometimes he writes the title of the work in them. He is always looking for different layers to construct his paintings.
The exhibition is presented in reverse chronological order: its circuit starts with recent works and takes you back in time. Why did you choose that approach?
Harald Kunde: That was because of the architecture of Bozar’s Centre for Fine Arts [the exhibition follows the rue Ravensteinstraat circuit - SaS]. Rauch’s recent paintings are much larger than his early works. So the circuit begins with Zähmung, a gigantic painting that dates from 2011. After that it takes you back, in seven stages, to his early days in 1993.
Rauch grew up under the DDR regime. How important was that for his oeuvre?
Kunde: It was very important. But it is not his only source. In the 1980s he studied at a renowned art school in Leipzig [Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, SaS] where students were taught by excellent East German teachers. It was important for Rauch, however, that the Wall came down at the right moment. He was in his late twenties when the world completely changed and he was able to make a new beginning. He wasn’t too young, but he wasn’t too old, either, to pick up new influences from the West. With those two different sources he created his own, unique style. If he had grown up in the West, he would have missed out on that influence from East Germany, and vice versa.
The sources he incorporates into his paintings are highly diverse, ranging from DDR children’s books to comic strips, posters, historical paintings, etc.
Kunde: Rauch makes use of a whole lot of sources. Comic strips were very important for him. In East Germany there was only one comic strip, the Digedags, which enjoy real cult status. It was a major source of inspiration for Rauch. But there were also the early US comic strips of the 1940s and 1950s, mainly in black and white. Rauch often uses text balloons. For the most part, they are empty. But sometimes he writes the title of the work in them. He is always looking for different layers to construct his paintings.
He is not interested in painting reality. He wants to depict an artificial world. The combination of different sources and pictorial strategies almost offers you a glimpse inside his brain. Dreams are very important too. Rauch is a devotee of surrealist painting. He once said that, for him, dreaming is another way of painting. You never know what is reality and what is imagination.
It is interesting, too, how he makes optimal use of the potential of painting by confusing the dimensions of time and space.
Kunde: Yes, that’s true. His paintings have great narrative potential. He tells stories all the time. But he never does so in a linear way with a beginning and an end. He tells a story without an ending.
Rauch often includes himself in his paintings. In Kunde, one of the works in the exhibition, you yourself are depicted. What does it feel like to be immortalised by Neo Rauch?
Kunde: [Laughs] It is a play on words. In German, my surname means both “news” (Die Kunde) and “customer” (Der Kunde). In this work it is in the sense of news. I love that painting. It hasn’t yet been shown to the public very much. When you see me and then the portrayal, you will see the difference.
Neo Rauch: The Obsession of the Demiurge. Selected Works 1993-2012 • 20/2 > 19/5, di/ma/Tu > zo/di/Su 10 > 18.00 (do/je/Th > 21.00), €10, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten/Palais des Beaux-Arts, rue Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-507.82.00, www.bozar.be
Images:
1. Neo Rauch, Die Kontrolle, 2010. Öl auf Leinwand, 300 x 420 cm. Private Collection/Basel, courtesy: Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin.
2. Neo Rauch, Nest, 2012. Öl auf Leinwand, 300 x 250 cm. Collection De Heus - Zomer, courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin.
3. Neo Rauch, Rauch, 2005. Privatsammlung, courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York/London. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin.
4. Neo Rauch, Abendmesse, 2012. Öl auf Leinwand, 300 x 250 cm. Privatsammlung, courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin
It is interesting, too, how he makes optimal use of the potential of painting by confusing the dimensions of time and space.
Kunde: Yes, that’s true. His paintings have great narrative potential. He tells stories all the time. But he never does so in a linear way with a beginning and an end. He tells a story without an ending.
Rauch often includes himself in his paintings. In Kunde, one of the works in the exhibition, you yourself are depicted. What does it feel like to be immortalised by Neo Rauch?
Kunde: [Laughs] It is a play on words. In German, my surname means both “news” (Die Kunde) and “customer” (Der Kunde). In this work it is in the sense of news. I love that painting. It hasn’t yet been shown to the public very much. When you see me and then the portrayal, you will see the difference.
Neo Rauch: The Obsession of the Demiurge. Selected Works 1993-2012 • 20/2 > 19/5, di/ma/Tu > zo/di/Su 10 > 18.00 (do/je/Th > 21.00), €10, Paleis voor Schone Kunsten/Palais des Beaux-Arts, rue Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussel/Bruxelles, 02-507.82.00, www.bozar.be
Images:
1. Neo Rauch, Die Kontrolle, 2010. Öl auf Leinwand, 300 x 420 cm. Private Collection/Basel, courtesy: Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin.
2. Neo Rauch, Nest, 2012. Öl auf Leinwand, 300 x 250 cm. Collection De Heus - Zomer, courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin.
3. Neo Rauch, Rauch, 2005. Privatsammlung, courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York/London. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin.
4. Neo Rauch, Abendmesse, 2012. Öl auf Leinwand, 300 x 250 cm. Privatsammlung, courtesy Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin & David Zwirner, New York. Photo: Uwe Walter, Berlin
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