Untitled (Death Mask) 1978

Arnulf Rainer created this drawing with charcoal. Isn’t it incredible? Look at the swirling marks. Imagine the artist possessed, frantically layering line upon line. The artist seems to be erasing the self with mark-making; in some ways, it’s a form of self-portraiture through obliteration. I can imagine Rainer in the studio, wrestling with his demons, each stroke a cathartic release. You know, it reminds me of the work of other artists who explore the depths of human emotion through gestural abstraction, like Cy Twombly or even some of Francis Bacon’s distorted figures. But Rainer’s work feels more intimate, more personal. It’s as if he’s inviting us to witness his own struggle with mortality, with identity, with the very act of creation. And in that shared experience, we find a strange kind of solace. That's how artists converse; one’s personal is connected to another's, across time and space.