Gebot

Neo Rauch is a leading member of a group of artists based in Leipzig who came to prominence after the collapse of the Soviet Regime. His paintings have a dry looking surface that avoids the luxurious gloss associated with oil paint. The incidents in the painted surface such as breaks in the surface, splatters and abrasions are deliberately applied to create a weathered aged surface. The style of the images seems to have been borrowed from antiquated cartoon magazines and yet their nightmarish and claustrophobic atmosphere lends them a surreal effect. They evidently capture the stifling atmosphere of the old Soviet system in Germany.