David Zwirner gallery is currently running a final week of the solo exhibition by Neo Rauch at their multi-level space inside the H Queens tower in Hong Kong. Propaganda marks a debut solo presentation in Asia by the artist we've featured in our Spring 2019 issue and is accompanied by a catalog release that is featuring a short story by novelist and playwright Daniel Kehlmann.
Introducing 15 new paintings by the renowned German painter, eight large-scale canvases and seven smaller, the body of work is continuing his exploration of figuration, dreamlike imagery, and the ambiguous nature of meaning. Over the years, Rauch has built a reputation of a painter who brings together the traditions of figurative painting and surrealism into an entirely new kind of aesthetic experience. Mixing portraiture with the addition of fantastical elements, he creates rich settings filled with bizarre, yet semi-realistic or even factual-appearing narrative. This unique mix of elements that creates a unique ambiance is further empowered by the use of peculiar characters and occasional typography elements, all rendered at different scales and in conflicting arrangements.
From simpler compositions to complex creations in which his figures and structures are overlapping spaces and configurations, the work sometimes has almost collage-like quality. His own unique style of figurative painting is a distinct merge of both the socialist realist aesthetic of his native East Germany and the Neo-expressionist styles that were popular at the time in the West. Further on, Propaganda testifies to the range of ways the artist applies color in his art, from using a highly restricted, sometimes monochrome palette in some of the examples, to an expansive array of vibrant colors in others.
Though highly refined and accomplished with considerable technical skill, Rauch considers his work intuitive and deeply personal - “My process is far less a reflection than it is drawing from the sediments of my past, which occurs in an almost trancelike state.” The personal connections to the work and imagery extend onto work titles which, while regularly cryptic or multivalent, are using puns or double entendres in various languages, and are seen by the artist as part of the generative process of the work. ––Sasha Bogojev
Neo Rauch's "Propaganda" will be at David Zwirner gallery from March 26, to May 4, 2019.
