The work I chose to project as my ‘favourite’ was Neo Rauch’s ‘Hüter de Nacht’ (Guardian of the Night). I chose this work because it drew me in with it’s crazy, surreal nature, it’s strange narrative and it’s vibrant colours.
ANALYSIS
This work was created in 2014, fairly recent in the grand scheme of art, and painted with oil on canvas. The composition is all over, with elements scattered throughout the foreground and background but, the main focal point is in the center-left, where three main figures and one secondary figure are contained. A woman with claws for hands and a man with a broom lean over a presumably sleeping man while a figure drums further into the background. At first viewing, this piece can seem daunting, a figure with claw-like hands and a dreaming man. It seems as if they are going to harm the sleeping man and this creates a sense of unease. But, if the viewer looks to the title, one can only assume that they should be rest-assured that there is a ‘Guardian of the Night’ watching over the sleeping figure. Whether this is the clawed-woman, and she is good, or whether this is the drumming figure, one cannot know for sure. What one can know though, is that this figure could be warding off the clearly chaotic nature of the rest of the imagery in this work. To the right, a scene of two figures descending towards a town on what the viewer can assume is a lovely walk, representing the dream of the sleeper, yet the dark, cloud-like forms that loom in the sky juxtapose the sentiment of the pleasantry. Strange, almost anatomical figures hang from the ceiling, combining the two spaces of dream and reality. The colour used in this work is predominantly vibrant and punchy, which, when combined with dark, muddy tones, create a surreal, dream-like environment for the figures to be placed into.
This work was created to be displayed in a collection of four works by Rauch called ‘At The Well’. This exhibition was displayed throughout 2014 at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York. The pieces all represent a dream-like existence, the intersection of surrealist and realist workings.
The paintings themselves are all grand in size. With ‘Hüter de Nacht’ measuring 300 x 250cm, the scale of the works also develops the surreal qualities of the work, the viewer is transported to the place of the image where they can begin to maybe understand some of the ideas and feelings behind the elements.
Neo Rauch, as arguably the most famous of the Neue Leipziger Schule (New Leipzig School) in Germany (referring to the movement in modern German painting), creates works that often tie together “figurative imagery and surrealist abstraction”. With his background of education lying in the greatly-respected Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig, Rauch incorporates ‘old’ styles of art and painting, bringing in modern and contemporary elements in agile and well-rounded ways. Rauch is included in a generation of artists that was brought up in a time of great war and turmoil, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the resurgence of art in Germany happening so close, the artists of this time were enriched in culture and a trend of ‘Socialist Realism’ became apparent as Rauch’s influence.
Rauch’s surrealist works are similar to those of artist José Roosevelt in their dream-like style and overall imagery. Some of the most prominent examples of this similarity include ‘The Railway Station at Riaz’, ‘Autumn Story’ and ‘Concert Echoes’.
Because of the surrealist and, often mind-boggling nature of Rauch’s work, a certain ‘viewer-ownership’ begins to arise. When his pieces are viewed, there are elements that are open to interpretation by the patron or the art-gallery attendee. There is a narrative or story created by individual past experiences or personalities that cannot compare to a work where the meaning is laid out for you. One can only assume that this is the intention of Rauch, but we may never truly know.
REFERENCES
Hüter der Nacht, Painting, 2014. (2014, December 01). Retrieved May 10, 2017, from https://thngs.co/things/869
Campbell, J. D. (2007, March). Neo Rauch. Border Crossings, 26(1), 80-82.
Piepenbring, D. (2014, November 06). Four Paintings by Neo Rauch. Retrieved May 10, 2017, from https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/11/06/at-the-well-four-paintings-by-neo-rauch/
Neo Rauch biography. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2017, from http://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/neo-rauch/biography
Zwirner (Gallery), D. (2008). Neo Rauch. New York: David Zwirner.
Krishtalka, S. (2007). Neo Rauch: Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal. International Contemporary Art, 39-.
Villarreal, I. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://artdaily.com/news/74978/Exhibition-of-new-works-by-German-artist-Neo-Rauch-on-view-at-David-Zwirner-in-New-York
Rauch, N. (2004). Neo Rauch : Arbeiten auf Papier(1st ed.). Ostfildern-Ruit.
Smith, R. (2002, April 26). ART IN REVIEW; Neo Rauch. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/26/arts/art-in-review-neo-rauch.html>
IMAGE REFERENCES
Rauch, Neo. Der Felsenwirt. New York: David Zwirner Gallery, 2014. Print.
Rauch, Neo. Hüter De Nacht. New York: David Zwirner Gallery, 2014. Print.
Rauch, Neo. Marina. New York: David Zwirner Gallery, 2014. Print.
Rauch, Neo. Über Den Dächern. New York: David Zwirner Gallery, 2014. Print.
Roosevelt, José. Autumn Story. 2002. Print.
Roosevelt, José. Concert Echoes. 1987. Print.
Roosevelt, José. The Railway Station At Riaz. 1988. Print.
ANABELLE 