Neo Rauch
Neo Rauch born in 1960 in Liepzig, Germany, is a
painter whose style is not easily defined. While on the surface one might draw
parallels to surrealism, Rauch doesn’t like the comparison and feels his work
is more in the realm of Socialist Realism. There is also an element of Pop art
about his work, with boldly outlined colorful character like representations
painted alongside more realistic subject matter. Highly narrative compositions
make up Rauch’s work, with overlapping planes, inconsistent figure sizes,
carefully executed perspective space next to nonsensical space all contributing
to a great amount of activity across the canvas. There is a combination of
painting styles in Rauch’s large canvases, one section might be painted in
great detail, while another is left sketchy and vague. Figures in the artist’s
paintings have a nostalgic feel about them and seem more like props, actors or
representatives of society rather than real people. In Rauch’s painting Suche (Search) from 2004 a large chimera
dominates the center of the canvas, wearing a text scrawled sandwich board and trailing
it’s slimy tail down the building lined avenue. The two patrons at the outdoor
café don’t seem to mind its presence, nor does the waitress, who greets it with
a beverage. Beyond the plaza is an idyllic tree covered hilly landscape with a
few buildings in the distance. Even if Rauch doesn’t like the comparison to the
surrealists, there is truly a dream like state being conveyed in this painting.
However, the idealized accepting attitudes of all represented in the painting,
from the chimera who has every reason to be shunned, to the stray dog being
lovingly petted, the ideal of one for all and all for one in the scheme of
Socialist realism rings a welcome tone that Surrealists never realized.
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