Arnulf Rainer’s work is defined by overpainting, erasure, intensification, and physical intervention.
Rather than treating the image as a finished surface, Rainer uses it as a field of confrontation, where existing forms are covered, attacked, transformed, or pushed toward disappearance.
The catalogue published by Galerie Lelong, Zurich, presents a focused selection of works that reflect Rainer’s long-standing engagement with gesture, bodily expression, and the tension between visibility and concealment. His overpaintings do not simply negate the underlying image; they create a second pictorial reality in which destruction, concentration, and renewal remain closely connected.
With a text by Rudi Fuchs and numerous colour illustrations, the publication documents Rainer’s continued exploration of the expressive force of the painted mark and its capacity to alter the meaning of an image.