Rainer Fetting is a German painter and sculptor, born in 1949. He created a large oeuvre of expressive figurative paintings and portraits, covering many different kinds of subject-matter, as well as many bronze sculptures. He also produced Berlin cityscapes, in which the Wall features largely as a central motif.
Fetting was born in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. He first completed studies as a carpenter, then worked as a stage designer, which followed his moving to Berlin. He is best known as one of the co-founders and main protagonists of the Galerie am Moritzplatz in Berlin, founded in the late 1970s by a group of young artists at the former Berlin Art Academy. It was created as a self-help project, in order to be able to exhibit their colorful figurative paintings in an art scene still dominated by minimalism, conceptual art, as well as Berlin Realism. This group of artists, known as the Moritzboys and including, among others, Salomé, Bernd Zimmer, and Helmut Middendorf, subsequently achieved international acclaim as the Junge Wilde or Neue Wilde in the early 1980s. In this period, Fetting strove to capture the atmosphere of West Berlin where frequent student protests and the homosexual rights movement provided powerful impetus for societal change in spite of constraints caused by the Wall. Through his expressive cityscapes in the Neue Wilde style, Fetting became a sensitive observer of this atmosphere, and his depictions of the Wall, in particular, with their decisive style and vibrant color palette, represent a vital metropolis welcoming of alternative lifestyles.
At an early stage, Fetting tried out different image perceptions, stylistically based on Impressionism and Expressionism. A DAAD scholarship allowed him to visit New York in 1978. This experience rapidly impacted his style, adding dynamic and movement to his paintings. Up to this point, his art had often been characterized as flat, but he began to use bright colors and strong, dynamic lines that gave his pieces a newfound energy.
In his work since 1982, Fetting has increasingly concerned himself with the depiction of the modern human condition. His view of the vulnerability of the individual in the face of an unintelligible and frequently hostile world puts Fetting in a tradition that stretches back through Kirchner and Nolde, to Van Gogh and Munch. Since 1984, while in New York, Rainer created works in which he mounted driftwood on canvas, overpainted it and integrated it into the composition of the picture.
The first bronze works did not appear until the second half of the 1980s. The bronze sculpture of former West German chancellor Willy Brandt, created for the SPD party headquarters in Bonn, now in Berlin, is his best known work. The most recent works attend increasingly to the metropolis of New York, in which the artist makes an issue of the city’s dark peripheral areas.
His work was presented in numerous group and solo exhibitions, throughout the world.
Rainer Fetting divides his time living and painting both in New York and in Berlin, Germany.
Year | Exhibition title | Gallery/Museum | Group/Solo |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Rainer Fetting – Fotografie | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Solo |
2012 | Sammlung Marx, Eine Auswahl | Museum Narodowe w Szczecinie, Stettin, Poland | Group |
2011 | Sammlung Marx, Eine Auswahl | Atlas Sztuki Lodz, Poland | Group |
2011 | Rainer Fetting – Berlin | Berlinische Galerie, Germany | Solo |
2011 | Neue Bilder | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Solo |
2011 | Der heilige Augenblick | Museum am Dom, Würzburg, Germany | Group |
2010 | Walking the Dog | Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Germany | Group |
2010 | Macht zeigen - Kunst als Herrschaftsstrategie | Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2010 | Berlin zeichnet | Ludwig-Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Germany | Group |
2010 | Berlin zeichnet | Kunsthalle Rostock, Germany | Group |
2010 | Berlin zeichnet | Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany | Group |
2010 | Berlin zeichnet | Galerie der Stadt Sindelfingen, Germany | Group |
2010 | The 80s Revisited - aus der Sammlung Bischofberger | Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany | Group |
2010 | Neo-Expressionist Painting from Berlin | Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel | Group |
2010 | Manscapes | Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany | Group |
2010 | Some Paintings | Galerie Deschler, Berlin | Solo |
2009 | Don't Projects | Le Souci De Soi | Group |
2009 | GroSstadtbilder - New York, Berlin | Saarbrücken, Congresshalle Saarbrücken, Germany | Group |
2009 | Some Paintings 1974-2009 | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Solo |
2008 | Rückkehr der Giganten | Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen, Germany | Group |
2007 | Summer Setting | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2007 | Kunst und Kanzler | Villa Grisebach, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2007 | Waters | Studio d’Arte Cannaviello, Mailand, Italy | Solo |
2006 | Deutsche Bilder aus der Sammlung Ludwig | Ludwigsgalerie Schloss Oberhausen, Germany | Group |
2006 | Neue Arbeiten | Galerie Karl Pfefferle, Munich | Solo |
2005 | Los Angeles Surfscapes | Galerie Karl Pfefferle, Munich | Solo |
2005 | (my private) Heroes | Museum MARTa Herford, Herford, Germany | Group |
2005 | New York Underground | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2005 | Rainer Fetting trifft Lovis Corinth | Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Germany | Solo |
2004 | CURIOUS | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2004 | Summer Setting | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Group |
2004 | Particular view | Galleria Alessandro Bagnai, Florence | Group |
2003 | Rainer Fetting | Kunst Köln, Cologne, Germany | Solo |
2003 | Rainer Fetting | Art Frankfurt, Germany | Solo |
2003 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Deschler, Berlin, Germany | Solo |
2003 | Rainer Fetting | Blickachsen, Bad Homburg, Germany | Solo |
2003 | Expressiv! | Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Riehen, Switzerland | Group |
2003 | Obsessive Malerei | MMK Karlsruhe, Germany | Group |
2003 | Go, Johnny, Go! | Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria | Group |
2003 | Rainer Fetting | Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany | Solo |
2003 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Peter Borchardt, Hamburg, Germany | Solo |
2003 | Neue Bilder | Galerie Karl Pfefferle, Munich | Group |
2002 | Rainer Fetting | Art Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany | Solo |
2002 | Rainer Fetting | Boukamel Contemporary Art Gallery, London, UK | Solo |
2002 | Rainer Fetting | Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany | Solo |
2002 | Neue Wilde | Museum Ludwig, Koblenz (Sammlung Martin Sanders), Germany | Group |
2001 | Landschaften | Kunsthalle Emden, Germany | Group |
2001 | Modelle: Desmond, Ole, Andrea, Raoul | Galerie Peter Borchardt, Hamburg, Germany | Group |
2000 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin, Germany | Solo |
2000 | Männerbilder | Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum Schloss Gottorf, Germany | Group |
2000 | Neue Bilder – Neue Skulpturen | Galerie Karl Pfefferle, Munich | Solo |
1999 | Paintings | Boukamel Contemporary Art Gallery, London, UK | Group |
1999 | Fifty Years, Anniversary Exhibition for his 50th Birthday | Bilder und Skulpturen, Galerie Peter Borchardt, Hamburg, Germany | Solo |
1998 | Fotografie | Boukamel Contemporary Art Gallery, London, UK | Group |
1998 | Berlin – Fotografien und Arbeiten auf Papier | Galerie Karl Pfefferle, Munich | Solo |
1997 | Rainer Fetting | Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, Germany | Solo |
1997 | Heftige malerei - Figurative deutsche Malerei der sechziger bis neunziger Jahre in der Sammlung Würth | Museum Würth, Künzelsau, Germany | Group |
1996 | Willy Brandt-Skulptur | Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, Germany | Group |
1995 | Rainer Fetting und Zeitgenossen aus der Sammlung Martin Sanders | Staatliches Russisches Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia | Group |
1995 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Edition Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark | Solo |
1994 | Neue Arbeiten | Pfefferle Galerie Munich, Germany | Solo |
1994 | Neue Arbeiten | Galerie Forsblom Zurich, Switzerland | Solo |
1993 | Rainer Fetting | Jan Baum Gallery Los Angeles, USA | Solo |
1993 | Rainer Fetting | Estudio Lisenberg Buenos Aires, Argentina | Solo |
1993 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Tobias Hirschmann Frankfurt, Germany | Solo |
1993 | Rainer Fetting | Greifen Galerie Greifswald, Germany | Solo |
1993 | Etchings and Silkscreens 1978-1992 | Ratner Gallery Chicago, USA | Solo |
1993 | Mönche | Raab Galerie Berlin, Germany | Group |
1993 | Still-Lifes | Raab Gallery London, England | Group |
1993 | Exposition d'Estampes | ARTCurial Paris, France | Group |
1992 | America by Rainer Fetting | Raab Galerie Berlin, Germany | Solo |
1992 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Pfefferle Munich, Germany | Solo |
1992 | Desmond | Galerie Pfefferle Rumforstrasse | Group |
1992 | Bilder und Arbeiten auf Papier | Schloß Holdenstedt, Kunstverein Uelzen, Germany | Solo |
1992 | Etchings and silkscreens 1978-1992 | Raab Gallery at Millbank London, England | Solo |
1992 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie M, Burg Knipshausen Wilhemshaven, Germany | Solo |
1992 | New York | Raab Gallery London, Germany | Group |
1992 | New Paintings from Berlin, aus der Sammlung Martin Sanders | Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel | Group |
1991 | Drehung | Galerie Pfefferle Munich, Germany | Group |
1991 | Köpfe | Galerie Mönch Bremen, Germany | Group |
1991 | Graphik | Albrechtburg MeiSen, Germany | Group |
1991 | Works on paper and painting | Glasgow Print Studio Glasgow, England | Solo |
1991 | Rainer Fetting 1990-1991 | Raab Galerie Berlin, Germany | Solo |
1991 | Rainer Fetting 1990-1991 | Raab Gallery, Cork Street London, England | Solo |
1991 | Recent paintings & Works on Paper | Miriam Shiell Fine Art Toronto, Canada | Solo |
1991 | Gemälde und Skulpturen, Berlin-New York | Nationalgalerie Berlin, Stadtmuseum Weimar Berlin, Germany | Group |
1988 | Refigured Painting, The German Image 1960-1988 | Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio | Group |
1988 | Refigured Painting, The German Image 1960-1988 | Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA | Group |
1988 | Portraits, Stadtlandschaften, Wald, Skulpturen | Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany | Group |
1988 | Portraits, Stadtlandschaften, Wald, Skulpturen | London, UK | Group |
1987 | Berlinart 1967-1987 | Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA | Group |
1987 | Rainer Fetting | San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA | Solo |
1987 | Rainer Fetting | Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France | Solo |
1986 | Rainer Fetting | Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany | Solo |
1986 | Rainer Fetting | Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland | Solo |
1986 | New York Landscapes, Portraits and Sculptures | Marlborough Gallery, New York | Group |
1982 | Zeitgeist, Internationale Kunstausstellung Berlin 1982 | Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany | Group |
1982 | Rainer Fetting | Anthony d’Offay, London, UK | Solo |
1982 | Rainer Fetting | Mary Boone, New York, USA | Solo |
1982 | Rainer Fetting | Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany | Solo |
1981 | A New Spirit in Painting | Royal Academy of Art, London, UK | Group |
1981 | Rainer Fetting | Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich, Switzerland | Solo |
1980 | Heftige Malerei | Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany | Group |
1980 | Stadtbilder | Galerie am Moritzplatz, Berlin, Germany | Group |