Rosa Loy | Neo Rauch: Das Alte Land
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Rosa Loy (b. 1958) and Neo Rauch (b. 1960) are some of the most esteemed and international contemporary artists in Germany. The New Leipzig School, known for its artists’ skilful paintings that are representational but still have an unreal feel to them, had a meteoric rise to international fame after the German reunification. Neo Rauch and Rosa Loy became the stars of contemporary art in Leipzig. The works of this artist couple have now been brought before Finnish audiences for the first time.
Rosa Loy and Neo Rauch. Image: Copyright by Ludwig Rauch, Uwe Walter.
The themes and tones of the artworks in the exhibition reach far into the ancient land formed by the artists’ home regions, the cultural soil of south-eastern Germany. Leipzig is one of the three major cities of Saxony. Together with Dresden, it has for centuries been a centre of classical music and visual arts that has been shaped by both Romanticism and Expressionism.
Like the Romantics, Rosa Loy and Neo Rauch emphasise an artist’s freedom, imagination, and spiritualised relationship with nature. Their fascinating artworks do not mimic any visible reality, but rather depict inner visions. The paintings are representational, but not realistic. The boundary between the reality, the dream world and different time levels seems to dissolve.
The artists entice the viewer to enter, without prejudice, into exciting visual worlds and filter the stories that arise through their own observations and life experiences.
Das Alte Land is a tribute to the artists’ home region where their families have lived for hundreds of years. The land has witnessed the yield of daily work, the heavy boots of soldiers, the power of the arts, the rise and death of ideas. The exhibition is also Sinkka’s tribute to the artists’ works, their long-lasting love, working relationship and life together.
Rosa Loy and Neo Rauch have been working and living together for decades and they have developed their own expression side by side. Their artworks are different, but they exist in the same world.
In connection with the exhibition, a publication presenting the works of the artists has been published by Publishing Company Parvs. The book is written by Director of Museum Services Arja Elovirta and curator Ritva Röminger-Czako, who have compiled the exhibition.
A documentary about Neo Rauch is shown in the exhibition: Neo Rauch: Gefährten und Begleite (Comrades and Companions), 2016, Weltkino Filmverleih. The German-language documentary is subtitled in English.
Showtimes of the documentary (duration 1h 41 min):
- Tue-Fri: 11:00 | 12:45 | 14:30 | 16:15
- Sat-Sun: 11:15 | 13.00 | 14:45
