Rainer Gross

In the case of the paintings by Rainer Gross known as “Twins,” we are dealing with diptychs, i.e., two-part works which, when the two same-sized canvases are placed horizontally next to each other, yield an overall picture. At first glance, we encounter intense color and an enormous presence of the heavy application of layers of paint organized in flat planes. The spotty distribution of various colors conveys an impression of an organic proliferation of, say, colorful lichen, or of the weathering processes of the earth or other surfaces. Now and again, this assessment also applies to Gross’ paintings based on irregular strips of paint. 

Despite these first associations, the works do not depict anything. Color and its appearances are what determine the works, and hence, they are unequivocally classifiable as non-representational color painting.  But are we dealing with painting in the classical sense at all? No, and yes!

German Television Channel, WDR Fernsehen, interviewed gallery artist, Rainer Gross in-studio and during the installation of his early summer 2018 exhibition: TWINS. 

Rainer Gross's Twins painting, Double Mickey, 2013, 183 x 366 cm was included in the Beijing Biennale 2017 in the China Art Museum in Beijing.

Thatcher Projects is excited to share a presentation of Rainer Gross' series Kabbalistic 72 Names of God at Gallery MC, a non-profit multicultural interdisciplinary art gallery committed to the research, production, presentation and interpretation of contemporary art.

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Two major paintings by German American artist Rainer Gross, (Die Behauptung der Moderne I, 1982) and TV II Baroque, 1979) included in an exhibition of German Expressionist paintings at the Shanghai China Art Museum. Considered a movement with major influence on Chinese modern art since the 1980s, this is the first proper exhibition ever held on the Chinese mainland.