Impulse and Correction, Concealing and Revealing

Arnulf Rainer

Impulse and Correction, Concealing and Revealing

Impuls und Korrektur, Verdeckung und Enthüllung

Arnulf Rainer harbors a dislike of classic passport photos of himself. Using a photo booth, he creates hyperbolic self-portraits and makes nasty faces, so as to guard against the numbing of his expression. Subsequently, the artist transforms the photo, in an ostensibly destructive act, painting over it in his characteristic vigorous style, scratching into the picture, and attacking it with fierce brush strokes. At the same time, he also magnifies the expression of the face. "I always immediately see only the bad parts in a picture," Rainer explains. "Concealing them, the weak parts, one after the other, covering up until I can’t see anything any more, that led me to the overpaintings. That is to say, love and a desire for perfection." In the process, the artist again and again tries to come to terms with his own fears, with annihilation and death; he works to the point of complete exhaustion and is keenly interested in the mental states of psychiatric patients.

The exhibition "Arnulf Rainer. Pinselrausch” at the Arnulf Rainer Museum in Baden, just south of Vienna, runs until October 30, 2016. www.arnulf-rainer-museum.at

Arnulf Rainer, Tannhäuser, 1972/1973
Helmut Zambo Collection, Badenweiler and Vienna

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Arnulf Rainer

Impulse and Correction, Concealing and Revealing

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

Johann Hauser

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

Drawn with simple lead and color pencils, Johann Hauser’s works show outstanding color effects and expressiveness. With his distinctive stroke and mostly against a white paper background, he created a colorful, extraordinary cosmos of imagery. We see adorable elephants at play and fish display their bare teeth. The sun, the moon, and blue stars are shining. Above all, however, Hauser chose women as the subject of his art, drawing them with an obsessive vehemence, over and over. They face the viewer frontally, with striking body shapes and magnificent heads of hair, in colorful, wide garments, or in the nude. Their breasts and genitals are overly emphasized, often accentuated even more by the signal color red.

In the late nineteen forties, Hauser was admitted to the Gugging Psychiatric Clinic. Psychiatrist Leo Navratil discovered and strongly supported his artistic talents early on. From 1981 until his death, he lived and worked at the "Gugging House of Artists,” a residence and working environment where patients were given the opportunity to independently follow their artistic pursuits. Today, Hauser’s works are on display at the Museum Gugging.
www.gugging.at

Johann Hauser, Frau, August 1, 1985
© Collection Helmut Zambo, Badenweiler-Vienna

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Johann Hauser

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

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Impulse and Correction, Concealing and Revealing

Arnulf Rainer

Impulse and Correction, Concealing and Revealing

Impuls und Korrektur, Verdeckung und Enthüllung

Arnulf Rainer harbors a dislike of classic passport photos of himself. Using a photo booth, he creates hyperbolic self-portraits and makes nasty faces, so as to guard against the numbing of his expression. Subsequently, the artist transforms the photo, in an ostensibly destructive act, painting over it in his characteristic vigorous style, scratching into the picture, and attacking it with fierce brush strokes. At the same time, he also magnifies the expression of the face. "I always immediately see only the bad parts in a picture," Rainer explains. "Concealing them, the weak parts, one after the other, covering up until I can’t see anything any more, that led me to the overpaintings. That is to say, love and a desire for perfection." In the process, the artist again and again tries to come to terms with his own fears, with annihilation and death; he works to the point of complete exhaustion and is keenly interested in the mental states of psychiatric patients.

The exhibition "Arnulf Rainer. Pinselrausch” at the Arnulf Rainer Museum in Baden, just south of Vienna, runs until October 30, 2016. www.arnulf-rainer-museum.at

Arnulf Rainer, Tannhäuser, 1972/1973
Helmut Zambo Collection, Badenweiler and Vienna

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

Johann Hauser

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

Drawings of Immediate Intensity

Drawn with simple lead and color pencils, Johann Hauser’s works show outstanding color effects and expressiveness. With his distinctive stroke and mostly against a white paper background, he created a colorful, extraordinary cosmos of imagery. We see adorable elephants at play and fish display their bare teeth. The sun, the moon, and blue stars are shining. Above all, however, Hauser chose women as the subject of his art, drawing them with an obsessive vehemence, over and over. They face the viewer frontally, with striking body shapes and magnificent heads of hair, in colorful, wide garments, or in the nude. Their breasts and genitals are overly emphasized, often accentuated even more by the signal color red.

In the late nineteen forties, Hauser was admitted to the Gugging Psychiatric Clinic. Psychiatrist Leo Navratil discovered and strongly supported his artistic talents early on. From 1981 until his death, he lived and worked at the "Gugging House of Artists,” a residence and working environment where patients were given the opportunity to independently follow their artistic pursuits. Today, Hauser’s works are on display at the Museum Gugging.
www.gugging.at

Johann Hauser, Frau, August 1, 1985
© Collection Helmut Zambo, Badenweiler-Vienna