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Vernissage: JENS RAUSCH „Durchforstete Wirklichkei
Vernissage: Friday, 20 November 2026, 8:00 pm
Exhibition dates: 21 November 2026 to 20 February 2027
Curator: Prof. Claus Friede
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm, and during office hours by prior telephone appointment.
At first glance, Jens Rausch’s paintings are closely associated with trees, forests, trunks, woodland, branches and foliage. Other series explore mountains, bodies of water, experimental fields, and topographical and structural surfaces, collectively entitled “Miles”.
It becomes clear that the decipherability of what we see on the canvases is merely a surface phenomenon; once viewers engage more deeply with the works, a new space of perception begins to emerge.
Alongside oil paints, Rausch uses natural materials, layering them onto predominantly coarse canvases. This creates not only the painterly trompe-l’œil of an illusionistic spatial depth, but also a tangible, informal space. Crusty, resinous, earthy, powdery, charred and leaf-like textures merge, creating an irresistible interplay of near and distant perspectives.
Comparable to the approach of a sculptor, Rausch works by adding or removing material. Ash, soot, lime, bitumen, iron oxide and collaged paper, for example, are used to build up and densify the surface. He then scratches into the work with sharp-edged tools, creating drawn lines, structures, fibres and branching patterns while removing material in the process.
With works being presented in Austria for the first time, the exhibition Durchforstete Wirklichkeit (Reality Surveyed) invites viewers to explore different levels of perception. Above all, vertical dynamics emerge, drawing viewers into pictorial spaces that are aesthetically compelling, intense, materially tangible and lyrical.
In his recent paintings, the artist reflects on the motifs of landscape and forest, exploring and dissecting the various forms of reality they embody.
Exhibition dates: 21 November 2026 to 20 February 2027
Curator: Prof. Claus Friede
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm, and during office hours by prior telephone appointment.
At first glance, Jens Rausch’s paintings are closely associated with trees, forests, trunks, woodland, branches and foliage. Other series explore mountains, bodies of water, experimental fields, and topographical and structural surfaces, collectively entitled “Miles”.
It becomes clear that the decipherability of what we see on the canvases is merely a surface phenomenon; once viewers engage more deeply with the works, a new space of perception begins to emerge.
Alongside oil paints, Rausch uses natural materials, layering them onto predominantly coarse canvases. This creates not only the painterly trompe-l’œil of an illusionistic spatial depth, but also a tangible, informal space. Crusty, resinous, earthy, powdery, charred and leaf-like textures merge, creating an irresistible interplay of near and distant perspectives.
Comparable to the approach of a sculptor, Rausch works by adding or removing material. Ash, soot, lime, bitumen, iron oxide and collaged paper, for example, are used to build up and densify the surface. He then scratches into the work with sharp-edged tools, creating drawn lines, structures, fibres and branching patterns while removing material in the process.
With works being presented in Austria for the first time, the exhibition Durchforstete Wirklichkeit (Reality Surveyed) invites viewers to explore different levels of perception. Above all, vertical dynamics emerge, drawing viewers into pictorial spaces that are aesthetically compelling, intense, materially tangible and lyrical.
In his recent paintings, the artist reflects on the motifs of landscape and forest, exploring and dissecting the various forms of reality they embody.
