Rainer Gross, Contact Painting Twins Abstract Expressionist Diptych OIl Painting Rainer Gross, 2000

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Rainer Gross (American, b. 1957)
"Neal Twins" (in two parts)," 2000,
Oil diptych painting on panel, signed, titled and dated … Read more Rainer Gross (American, b. 1957)
"Neal Twins" (in two parts)," 2000,
Oil diptych painting on panel, signed, titled and dated verso, panel
(unframed/each): 10.25"h x 9"w, overall 10.25 X 18 inches


RAINER GROSS (1951 - )
Rainer Gross was born and educated in Cologne, Germany. He came to the United States in 1973. At that time he worked with Howard Kanovitz and later with Larry Rivers He has exhibited with German galleries and last season at the Tower. His work is represented in numerous private collections. Mr. Gross' excellent draftsmanship and subtle color sense are evident in his acrylics on paper. His paintings and drawings interpret Americana charged with allegorical and classical allusions. The copying of re-rendering ot old masters has a long and venerable history. The Romans copied the Greeks, the Renaissance masters copied the Romans and the academicians of the 19th century copies the Renaissance masters. More recently, such stellar figures as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne and Pablo Picasso were "borrowers" who in turn became "lenders" to countless modernists.

The "Art about Art" exhibition at the Whitney Museum reminded us that the art of the past can still provide valid models, even in an age when the unique and objective statement has been valued as never before. A prominent figure in that show was Larry Rivers, perhaps the most consistent renowned "borrower" of his generation, who has spent the last 30 years quoting everybody from Rembrandt to Hiroshige.

This is from his series “Contact Paintings – Twins” As their name implies, the compositions encompass two painted surfaces that the artist presents as a diptych, each panel imprinting on and mirroring the other. The artist sometimes selects one of the two panels and brings his personal touch by adding one or two brushstrokes.
A deeper understanding of Gross’ paintings requires the viewer to consider the challenges entailed in becoming a painter in 1970s Cologne when the ideology of “The End of Painting” professed by Joseph Beuys at the Kunst Akademie Düsseldorf became dominant among the art world’s “elite.” Being a painter meant thinking about the specificities of the medium and new ways to push it forward.

In 2017, Gross was included in the Beijing Biennale as a representative of Germany. In 2012, the Museum Ludwig (Koblenz, Germany) held a four-decade survey of his paintings. Other notable national and international exhibits include the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts (Lausanne, Switzerland), Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion (Champaign, Illinois, USA), and Kunsthalle Emden (Emden, Germany). Gross’ paintings are housed in numerous public collections, including the AT&T Corporate Art Collection, the Cohen Family Collection, the Hirshhorn Collection, the UBS Union Bank of Switzerland, and the Lowe Art Museum. His work has been reviewed by the New York Times, Art in America, ArtNews, The Brooklyn Rail, The Boston Globe, and others.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2007 Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Katharina Rich-Perlow Gallery, New York
Stephen Haller Gallery, New York,
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
Gráficas Works on Paper, Tucson, AR
Museum Tucson, Arizona
2006 "Abstrakt", Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Galerie Koch, Art Miami, and Cologne
Galerie Stefan Röpke, Art Fairs, Pulse New York, Bologna, Brussels
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne
2005 Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Germany;
Galerie Graf und Schelble, Basel, Switzerland;
Michael Schneider Zeitgenössische Kunst Bonn, Germany
Galerie Stefan Roepke,
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA and Art Chicago;
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett: Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Germany, Elvira Bach - Rainer Gross - Stefan Hoenerloh - Alex Katz - Stefan Szczesny - Wanda Pratschke - Hans Steinbrenner
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne, Germany;
Michael Schneider Zeitgenoessische Kunst, Bonn, Germany
2003 Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne;
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA;
2002 Auftrag der Farbe,* Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany and
Kunstverein Trier, Germany;
Marcel Sitcoske Gallery, San Francisco, CA
DFN Gallery, New York
2001 Accrochage, Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, Hanna Bekker vom
Rath, Frankfurt, Germany;
Museum Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany;
Achrochage, Gallery Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany;
Michael Schneider Zeitgenoessische Kunst, Bonn, Germany;
Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany*;
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne;
Museum Viersen, Viersen, Germany;
Marcel Sitcoske Gallery, San Francisco, CA;
Galerie Klein, Bad Muenstereifel, Germany;
2000 Achrochage, Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, Hanna Bekker vom
Rath, Frankfurt;
Michael Schneider Zeitgenoessische Kunst, Bonn, Germany;
Rainer Gross, Thomas Kemper, Peter Tollens
Galerie Benden & Klimczak, Cologne;
1999 Portraits, Galerie Benden & Klimczak, Cologne, Germany;
Still Life and Blick zurück nach vorn, Michael Schneider
Zeitgenoessische Kunst, Bonn, Germany;
Galeriey Holtmann, Cologne, Germany;
Church of St.Gerion, Cologne, Germany;
X-MAS , Kent Gallery, New York;
1998 Galerie Benden & Klimczak, "Art Cologne" fair, Cologne, Germany;
Gallery OZ, Paris,
Gallery Graf & Schelble, Basel, and Art Zurich, Switzerland;
Galerie Holtmann, Art Basel, Switzerland and Art Cologne,Germany;
1997 Solo, Madrid Museo de la Cidad, Madrid, Spain;
Schneider Contemporary Art, Bonn, Germany;
Abstract , Galerie Benden & Klimczak, Viersen, Germany;
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Frankfurt, Germany;
1996 The World is a Broken Mirror , Galerie Inge Baecker, Koln, Germany;
Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany;
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany;
Marquardt Ausstellungen, Munich, Germany;
1995 How Red Works, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Canada;
Marquardt Ausstellungen, Munich, Germany;
1994 Gelb, Marquardt Ausstellungen, Munich, Germany;
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, Hanna Bekker vom Rath,
At Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany;
Gallery Moos, Toronto, Canada;
1993 Gallery Baecker, Cologne, Germany;
The Return of the Cadavre Exquis,* (trav. exhibition)
Drawing Center, New York;
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.;
Fundacion para el Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; Santa Monica Museum of Art, California;
Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis, Missouri;
1992 Galerie OZ, Paris, France;
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Frankfurt, Germany;
European Pop Art, Galerie Inge Baecker, "Art Cologne", Cologne, Germany;
Das geteilte Bild, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany;*
Exposition Camel, Musée des Arts Decoratifs de Paris, Musée du
Louvre, Paris, France*;
Proud Possessions: A Community Collects, Chrysler Museum, Norfolk,Viginia;
1991 State Portrait , Gallery Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany*;
The New York Show, Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach, Germany;
Private Stories, Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth
University, Richmond, Virginia*;
European paintings, Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York;
Gallery Moos, Toronto, Canada
1990 Frankfurter Kunstkabinet, Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Germany;
Free Spirits, Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY;
Gallery Moos, Toronto;
1989 Reality as conzept, Gallery Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany;
Rare Metallic, Gallery Burgis Geismann, Cologne, Germany;
Working on paper, Gallery Moos, New York;
1988-89 Hommage-Demontage,* (trav. exhibition)
Neue Galerie / Ludwig Collection, Aachen, Germany;
Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany;
Museum Gelsenkirchen, West Germany;
Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst, Utrecht, Holland;
Provinciaal Museum, Hasselt, Belgium;
Museum for Twentieth Century Art, Vienna, Austria
1998 Gallery Inge Baecker, "Art Cologne" fair, Cologne, Germany
1987 Gallery Moos, New York
1986 Words, Joy Moos Gallery, Miami, Florida;
"Liberty", New York Arts Academy and New York Academy of
Science, New York
My Art History, Gallery Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany;
New York-Paris-Berlin, Gallery Krief-Raymond, F.I.A.C., Paris, France;
Seven Cologne Artists in Nicosia, Famagusta Gate, Nikosia, Cyprus;
1984 Marlborough Gallery, New York;
Gallery Yves Arman, New York:
Paysages Singulairs, Maison Des Arts, Belfort, France*;
Tel paintre-quels maitre, Gallery Christian Chaneau, Paris,France;*
The Suitcase Edition, with Kolhoefer, Lambertin und Runge at
Gallery Sander, New York and Gallery Klein, Bonn, Germany;
Les Milles ET Une Nuit, Centre Culturel De Boulogne,
Billancourt, France and Salon De Montrouge, Centre
Culturel, Montrouge, France and Sousse, Tunis, Tunesia
1983 Self Portrait , (trav. exhibition)
Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, Washington;
Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California
New York Now,* (trav. exhibition)
Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany;
Kunstverein München, West Germany;
Musée cantonal des baeux arts Lausanne, Switzerland;
Kunstverein for the Rheinland and Westfalia, Duesseldorf;
1982 "Instant Picture", Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany*,
Marlborough Gallery, New York
1981 Homage, Danforth Museum, Framingham, Massachusetts*
1978 lower Gallery, Southampton
The XMAS Project Artists, Kent Gallery: Dennis Adams, Stephanie Arrignon, Art in Ruins,Jan Baracz, Sean Bayliss,
Peter Bellamy, Lynda Benglis, John Brill, R. M. Fischer, Christine Franck, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Red Grooms, Rainer Gross, Ulrike Grossarth.
1973 Kunst und Technik, Kunstpreis Junger Western, Museum Bochum Neumarkt der Kunste, Cologne
1972 14 X Malere, Studio PHBK Cologne See less