Rainer Gross

BIOGRAPHY

Rainer Gross Biography

 










In 1973, Rainer Gross (b.1951 Cologne, Germany) left his studies in Fine Art at the Cologne Werkkunstschule to come to New York City, where he continued his art career at a time when many proclaimed the “end of painting.” Gross’ reaction to this is rooted in his connection to the painterly heritage of traditional European Art and its usage of iconography in harmony with his desire to bring these historical traditions into the present. The dense and weathered surfaces of his paintings, realized through layers of pressed pigments, do just this, particularly in his series of Logo paintings, which appropriate fragments of logos representing brands and consumers today.

Rainer Gross currently lives and works in New York City. He has had major solo shows nationally and internationally including a recent retrospective at Museum Ludwig (Koblenz, Germany). Gross’ paintings are in numerous public collections, including the AT&T Corporate Art Collection, the Cohen Family Collection, the UBS Union Bank of Switzerland and the Lowe Art Museum amongst others. Reviews of his work have been published in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Art in America, The Boston Globe, ArtNews, The Brooklyn Rail, and many others.

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Born in 1951 in Cologne, Germany
Lives and works in New York City.

Solo Exhibitions

2018
Twins, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2017
Contact Paintings, Galerie Rother-Winter, Wiesbaden (with Thomas Reiffenscheid), Germany
Contact Paintings,Galerie Filser und Gräf, Munich, Germany
Freunde treffen sich - revisited, Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany
(with Wolfgang Niedecken and Manfred Boecker)

2015-16
Frederic Boloix Fine Art, Ketchum, ID

2015
Contact Paintings, Frederic Boiloix Fine Art, Ketchum, ID

2014
Galerie Filser und Graf, Munich, Germany
Galerie Rother Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany
Neo-Expressionism in Germany, China Art Museum, Shanghai, China 

2013
Contact Paintings: Logos and Toons, Margaret Thatcher Projects, NY
Contact Logo Paintings on paper, Galerie Arnés y Ropke, Madrid, Spain
Contact Logo Paintings, Galerie Graf und Schelble, Basel, Switzerland

2012
NY Paintings 1972–2012, Museum Ludwig, Koblenz, Germany (Catalogue)
Early Paintings, Galerie Stefan Röpke, Köln, Germany

2011
Early Paintings, Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany

2010
Galerie Arnés y Röpke, Madrid Spain
Alpha Gallery, Boston, (with Wlodzimierz Ksiasek)
Graficas, Nantucket, MA

2009
Galerie Graf und Schelble, Basel, Switzerland Sept. 09

2008
Katharina Rich-Perlow Gallery, New York,
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker Vom Rath, Frankfurt, Germany
Galerie Pfaff, Nürnberg, Germany

2007
Galerie Graf und Schelble, Basel, Switzerland;
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany

2006
Galeria Pedro Torres, Logrõno, Spain
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Stefan Röpke, Cologne, Germany
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA

2005
Fundation Sala Robayera*, Miengo Cantabria, Spain
Simon Gallery, Morristown, New Jersey

2004
Axel Raben Gallery, New York;
Galerie Graf und Schelble, Basel, Switzerland;
Galeria Arnés y Roepke, Madrid, Spain;
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany;

2003
Doppelgänger, Contact Paintings 1996-2003* (traveling exhibition)
Leopold Hoesch Museum, Dueren, Germany;
Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders,Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany;
Museum Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany;
Staedtische Galerie in Park, Viersen, Germany;
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker von Rath, Frankfurt, Germany;
Axel Raben Gallery, New York;
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta;

2002
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne, Germany;
Galerie Parade, Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Michael Schneider Zeitgenoessische Kunst, Bonn, Germany

2001
Marcel Sitcoske Gallery, San Francisco, California;
Galerie Parade, Amsterdam, Netherlands;
Galerie Graf & Schelble, Basel, Switzerland;Michael Schneider Zeitgenoessische Kunst, Bonn,
Germany (Collaborations on Paper , Degenhard Andrulat)

2000
Galerie Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Marcel Sitcoske Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1999
Graf & Schelble, Basel, Switzerland
Michael Schneider Zeitgenössische Kunst, Bonn, Germany

1998
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
Marquardt Ausstellungen, München, Germany
Galerie Benden & Klimczak, Viersen, Germany (Twins 1997–1998*)

1997
Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, USA
Graf & Schelble Galerie, Basel, Switzerland
Marquardt Ausstellungen, München, Germany
Galerie OZ, Paris, France
Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln, Germany
Takt – und Fingerspitzengefühl/Fingertip-Tingling*(Wanderausstellung/traveling exhibition)
Kölnische Galerie des Kölnischen Stadtmuseums, Köln, GermanyI - Space, College of Fine and Applied Arts,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain, Chicago, IL, USA
Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, Champaign, IL, USA

1996
Marquardt Ausstellungen, München, Germany
Kölnische Galerie des Kölnischen Stadtmuseums, Köln, Germany
(Takt- und Fingerspitzengefühl/Fingertip-Tingling*) Michael Schneider Zeitgenössische Kunst, Bonn, Germany
Gallery Moos, Toronto, ON, Canada
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada

1995
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
Galerie Inge Baecker, Köln, Germany

1994
Marquardt Ausstellungen, München, Germany
Galerie Steinmetz, Bonn, Germany

1993
Ohne Worte, Persönliche Geschichten, Without Words: Private Stories (Wanderausstellung/traveling exhibition):Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Städtische Galerie im Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
An Inheritance Unequaled *, Anderson Gallery, USA
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, US

1992
Auf Papier, 1977–92*:Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath,Frankfurt a. M., Germany

1991
Eine Erbschaft sondergleichen 1991*: BIS Art Space, Mönchengladbach, Germany
Ohne Worte*: Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Frankfurt a. M., GermanyWithout Words*: Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York, USA

1990
Galerie OZ, Paris, France
Galerie Inge Baecker, Köln, Germany

1989–91
Brustprüfung/Breast Exam* (Wanderausstellung/travelling exhibition): Kunsthalle Emden, 282 Stiftung Henri Nannen, Emden, Germany
Städtisches Museum Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Bayer AG., Kultur im Foyer, Leverkusen, Germany
Museum Holtegaard, Holte, Denmark
Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria
Museum Gotha, Gotha, Germany

1989
Gallery Samuel Lallouz, Montreal, QB, Canada
Orangerie, Schloss Rheda, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany
Gallery Moos, Toronto, ON, Canada (LUXUS)

1988
Gallery Moos, New York, USA (LUXUS*)

1987
Galerie Inge Baecker, Köln, Germany (LUXUS)

1986
Galerie Inge Baecker, Köln, Germany (An Inheritance Unequaled, Art Cologne)

1985
Galerie Krief-Raymond, Paris, France
Karin Bolz Galerie, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

1984–85
Une collection s‘anime. Eine Sammlung lebt* (Wanderausstellung/traveling exhibition):Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland
Galerie Municipale d‘ Art Contemporain, Saint Priest, France
Städtisches Museum Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany

1984
Freitagsgalerie Imhof, Solothurn, Switzerland
Gallery Yves Arman, New York, USA (Forum Zürich, Switzerland)

1983
Gallery Yves Arman, New York, USA
Gabrielle Bryers Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Krief-Raymond, Paris, France (F.I.A.C., France)

1980
Elizabeth Weiner Gallery, New York, USA
Tower Gallery, Southhampton, New York, USA

1979
Tower Gallery, Southhampton, New York, USA

1974
Galerie Witte, Köln, Germany

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018 
Köln Plus - Farbmalereipositionen, Verein für Aktuelle Kunst e.V., Oberhausen, Germany
Galerie Ulf Larsson, Cologne, Germany
Art Karlsruhe, Galerie Filser und Gräf, Munich, Germany
Art Karlsruhe, and abstrakt, abstrakt, abstrakt, Galerie Koch Hannover, Germany 
Art Karlsruhe, Galerie Rother-Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany

2017 
Art Miami, Galerie Rother-Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany
Galerie Filser und Gräf, Munich
Galerie Koch Hannover, Germany 
Beijing Biennale, Beijing, China

2016
Blau, Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
Graf & Schelble Galerie, Basel, Switzerland
Gráficas Fine Art, Nantucket, MA, USA

2015
Gráficas, Nantucket, MA
Galerie Rother Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany
Graf & Schelble Galerie, Basel, Switzerland
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
Galerie Filser und Gräf, Munich, Germany

2014

Neo-Expressionism in Germany, Shanghai Museum of China, Shanghai China
Turn Up the Heat, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Frederic Boloix Fine Art, Sun Valley, ID
Gráficas Fine Art, Nantucket, MA
Galerie Filser und Gräf, Munich, Germany (Art Fair, Karlsruhe, Germany)
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany, (“Rot” Art Fair, Karlsruhe, Art Cologne, Germany)
Graf & Schelble Galerie, Basel, Switzerland
Galerie Rother Winter, Wiesbaden, Germany

2013
Gráficas, Nantucket, MA
Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
Galerie Filser und Gräf, Munich, Germany (Art Fair, Cologne, Germany)
Zhan Zhou International Art Museum, Beijing, China, (Infinity, Neo-Expressionism)
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston; Miami Project Fair, Florida
Galerie Stefan Röpke, Cologne, Germany
Frederic Boloix Fine Art, Sun Valley, ID

2012
Cut, Drawn, Painted: New Works on Paper, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2011
Houston Fine Art, USA; Pulse Miami, USA Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York
Pulse New York and Miami, USA, Galerie Stefan Röpke, Köln, Germany
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany

2010
Graf Und Schelble Galerie, Basel, Switzerland

2009
Rich-Perlow Gallery, New York;
Galerie Stefan Röpke, Pulse art fair New York, Miami and Hong Kong Art fair
Galerie Michael Schneider Zeitgenössische Kunst, Bonn, (three person show with Degenhard Andrulat and Michael Tönges)
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, "Tiere"

2008
Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo NY
Galerie Schneider Bonn, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Katharina Rich-Perlow Gallery, New York
"Pas de Deux" Villa Zanders Städtische Galerie, Bergisch-Gladbach
Galerie Stefan Röpke -Art Fairs: Pulse NY, Art Chicago
Gráficas Works on Paper, Nantucket, MA

2007
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Katharina Rich-Perlow Gallery, New York
Stephen Haller Gallery, New York
Galerie Koch, Hannover, Germany
Gráficas Works on Paper, Tucson, AR
Museum Tucson, Arizona

2006
"Abstrakt", Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Galerie Koch, Art Miami, and Cologne
Galerie Stefan Röpke, Art Fairs, Pulse New York, Bologna, Brussels
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Cologne

2005
Galerie Benden und Klimczak, Germany
Galerie Graf und Schelble, Basel, Switzerland
Michael Schneider Zeitgenoessische Kunst Bonn, Germany
Galerie Stefan Roepke, Köln, Germany
Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA and Art Chicago;
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath, Germany

Public Collections
Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA, USA
Art Gallery of Hamilton, ON, Canada
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Canada
Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank, Düsseldorf, Germany
AT&T Corporate Art Collection, USA
Bayer A.G. Leverkusen, Germany
Bell Atlantic, Arlington, VA, USA
Berlex Labs, NJ, USA
Bernstein Collection, New York, USA
Chase Bank collection, New York, USA
Cohen Familie Collection, New York, USA
Collection Peter Ludwig, Aachen, Germany
Auswärtiges Amt, Berlin, Germany
Hewlett-Packard Collection, Palo Alto, CA, USA
Hoffmann La Roche, Basel, Switzerland
Hirschhorn Collection Washington D.C., USA
Krannert Art Museum, Champaign IL, USA
Kunsthalle Emden, Stiftung Henri Nannen, Emden, Germany
Landschaftsverband Rheinland, Germany
Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, Germany
Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL, USA
McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton, ON, Canada
MGM Mediengruppe München, Germany
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Museum Mülheim/Ruhr, Germany
Museum Vilnius, Latvia
Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland
Pro Sieben, München, Germany
Queensland University of Technology Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia
Rathaus der Stadt Köln, Germany
Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
UBS Union Bank of Switzerland