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Arnulf Rainer

ARNULF RAINER

Res Arcana Galerie Lelong 10 May–13 June 2023 13 Rue de Téhéran, Paris
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Press Release

After turning his back on surrealism at the end of the 1940s, the Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer, born in 1929, moved towards a style of painting that took the radicalism and violence of expressionism and pushed them to the extreme. Considered a pioneer of the Art Informel movement (Informalism), at the turn of the 1960s he developed a practice that was to become his “signature”: Übermalung (overpainting or overcovering).

The process he uses in creating his engravings, for instance, is part and parcel of this approach of annihilation and overcovering. In a process suggestive of a kind of alchemical mysticism, the artist uses his body to alter the metal plate. He attacks the varnished copper (on which an image was sometimes transferred) with drypoint, then bites it with acid. The operation could be repeated several times, resulting in increasingly re-covered engraving states. Arnulf Rainer’s work bears the stigmata of this mechanical ritual and uses its specific qualities to deliver a work that the artist himself defines as ‘complex and ambiguous’. However, between the lacerations, the artist leaves gaps of white to breakthrough; a breath that sublimates the frenzy of the overcovering.

His latest ‘Überradierungen’ (over-engravings), published by Lelong Editions, will be exhibited at the bookshop alongside some unique works on paper and a selection of older engravings. It is a way for the artist to confront us with the unspeakable: it is up to us to try to detect what is hidden in them.

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About the Artist

Arnulf Rainer was born in 1929 in Baden, Austria. He lives and works in Austria.

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Also Exhibiting at Galerie Lelong

All Exhibitions
David Nash
DAVID NASH Catching Forms. Wood to Bronze Galerie Lelong 10 September–10 October 2026 13 Rue de Téhéran, Paris
Barthélémy Toguo
BARTHÉLÉMY TOGUO The Nomadic Studio Galerie Lelong 10 September–10 October 2026 13 Rue de Téhéran, Paris
About the Gallery
Galerie Lelong is located in Paris and New York. It was founded by Jacques Dupin, Daniel Lelong and Jean Frémon.

The Paris gallery has been exhibiting recent works from artists of international standing since 1981. The 1980s were notable for artists who went on to become household names, including Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Eduardo Chillida, Paul Rebeyrolle, Pierre Alechinsky, but also for the next generation of artists: Konrad Klapheck, Jan Dibbets, Donald Judd, Robert Ryman, Richard Serra, Jannis Kounellis, Arnulf Rainer, Nicola De Maria and Jan Voss.

In the 1990s, the gallery hosted artists who represented major movements in contemporary art: Sean Scully, Günther Förg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Antonio Saura. The gallery also increased international recognition of the work of Ana Mendieta.

Since the turn of the century, Galerie Lelong has accentuated the geographical and expressive diversity of its artists: from sculpture and objects by Jaume Plensa, David Nash, Wolfgang Laib, Kiki Smith, Rebecca Horn, Barry Flanagan to installations by Barthélémy Toguo and Lin Tianmiao, without forgetting painting, namely David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, Kate Shepherd, Nalini Malani, Nancy Spero, Juan Uslé, Leon Kossoff.

Galerie Lelong has a large publishing department which produces and distributes engravings, lithographs, digital prints and multiple objects, and collates these works in catalogues raisonnés.

It produces monumental sculptures to order for public spaces and private clients.

The gallery is present at the leading international contemporary art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Fiac Paris, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Arco Madrid, Art Brussels, Expo Chicago...).

The directors of the gallery are Jean Frémon, Daniel Lelong and Patrice Cotensin in Paris and Mary Sabbatino in New York.
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Address
13 rue de Téhéran
Paris
France
Opening Hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
(1)
Paris 13 rue de Téhéran
Galerie Lelong contemporary art gallery in 13 Rue de Teheran Paris France
Galerie Lelong
13 rue de Téhéran, Paris, France
+33 145 631 319
http://www.galerie-lelong.com

Opening hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
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