82 SPRING 2019
in an atmospheric space that challenges us with
scale change, perspective shifts, and intense
passages of color. The integration of historical
architecture and dress, with the special effects
of science fiction, spans the viewpoint across
different eras of human history.
Neo Rauch was raised by his grandparents in
Aschersleben after a train accident put an early
end to the lives of his young parents, who at 19
and 21, were both still art students. Rauch would
later attend his parents’ alma mater, Hochschule
für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig (Leipzig
Academy of Visual Arts), receiving an MFA and
becoming a professor there from 2005–2009.
Having remained in Leipzig his entire adult life,
Rauch feels a deep connection to the intellectual
and creative legacy of the region’s terroir. Since the
early ’90s, Rauch has made a top floor studio space
in an old cotton mill the epicenter of his creative
activities, with his wife, casein painter Rosa Loy,
working in another studio just across the hall.
Twenty-five years ago, Rauch had his first solo
exhibition with Eigen + Art, which is still his
principal gallery in Europe. At the turn of the
millennium, he was picked up by New York
gallerist David Zwirner, followed by a solo show
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2007.
When Rauch turned 50 in 2018, he was given
a retrospective exhibition, titled Dromos, that
filled all four floors of the Museum de Fundatie
in Zwolle, Netherlands. This past summer,
Rauch and Loy designed the costume and set for
the Bayreuth Festival’s production of Wagner’s
Lohengrin, which will continue to be staged for
the next three summer festivals. Reopening this
April at The Drawing Center in Manhattan, an
exhibition traveling from the Des Moines Art
Center, will feature 170 drawings by Rauch on A4
standard paper.Over the Holiday break, Rauch was able to
squeeze in an interview with Juxtapoz as he
prepares for a solo exhibition opening March 26,
2019 at David Zwirner’s new gallery space in Hong
Kong. I fired off a set of questions hoping to gather
insight into the mind and process of the most epic
painter hailing from Eastern Germany.David Molesky: I felt so fortunate that I was able
to see your exhibition, Dromos. Retrospectives
are an unprecedented opportunity for an artist
to reflect and to make comparisons between
images. What was the takeaway realization
upon seeing your work filling the Museum de
Fundatie in Zwolle, Netherlands?
Neo Rauch: It was like a family reunion, a greatAbove: Die Kontrolle, Oil on canvas, 118” x 165.25”, 2010"These are, at best, finger
exercises, which I complete in
a trance-like state."