ÜBER DEN DÄCHERN 2014

Neo Rauch's painting, "Über Den Dächern" is, in my imagination, made from a cocktail of ochre, rust, and stormy greys. It’s a painting that feels like a half-remembered dream. I feel like Rauch is almost building a stage set here, constructing an odd cast of characters populating a surreal landscape, teetering on rooftops beneath brooding skies. Look how the paint is applied in smooth, deliberate layers, creating this slightly unsettling, theatrical space. There’s a tension between representation and abstraction, as if Rauch is wrestling with the ghosts of art history. The figures seem frozen, caught in a moment of quiet contemplation. They evoke a sense of unease and alienation. But this painting is in conversation with the old masters, while forging its own path. It reminds me of a painter’s ongoing quest to make sense of the world. It embraces the ambiguity and uncertainty of human experience.