Christoph Ruckhäberle
Text
Christoph Ruckhäberle
by Christoph Tannert (in: Vitamin P2 - New Persectives in Painting, Phaidon 2011)
Christoph Ruckhäberle is the most conspicuous outsider of the new Leipzig school, which has a reputation for melancholy. There is nothing wrong with melancholy in itself - after all, this quality is often associated with greatness. But a whole group of artists painting sad pictures? ln fact, Ruckhäberle's pre-2006 pictures also appear rather gloomy, but he managed to put this characteristic behind him earlier than most of his contemporaries by exploring tendencies already present in his work, most notably bright colour, humour and his affinity with precisely patterned surfaces and ornament. The awkward gestures and oddly twisted limbs of the figures in his pictures make them look like marionettes in a puppet play. Particularly in his earlier works, they seem wooden, as if carved, frozen in time and in mid-movement, isolated and bored. The minimal interaction between the figures and a palpable distancing from the viewer in his skillfully painted compositions have a considerable allure that has propelled him onto the international stage.
Ruckhäberle's coloured lithographs, which began to appear at the end of 2006, demonstrate a more stylized version of his formal vocabulary that has fed back into his paintings. At around this time, Ruckhäberle and graphic artist Thomas Siemon founded the Leipzig LUBOK Verlag publishing house, which came to attention through its 'Bilderbücher': graphic books printed on a 1950s rapid press using the original printing blocks. Lubok is a Russian word that refers to satirical folk picture books that were popular in the seventeenth century. Ruckhäberle’s printed graphics and oil paintings on paper and canvas owe much to this research. They show individual figures standing, lying, gesticulating and dancing - almost always seen full-frontal and facing the viewer. The single-colour posterlike backgrounds and the suggestion of cloud formations in some of the pictures are clear borrowings from Expressionism and Surrealism.
Sharing a certain sentiment with Tilo Baumgärtel, Ruckhäberle puts masked companies on parade, permeated by the spirit of New Folk - a kind of post-hippie hippie movement that exalts closeness to nature and is interested in folk art and an early European earthy contemplativeness. These children of freedom are searching for new adventures and find them in a return to private mythologies and in cult-like groups. Ruckhäberle's paintings of masks combine horror, humour and superstition, intensified to wild and absurd excesses. He spreads colour around in an endeavour to share sensual and earthly joie de vivre and to reconcile it with spiritual ideals. This sounds rather like the output of the band Gogol Bordello; one could imagine that Ruckhäberle's peasant women, circus figures, free wanderers and twisted marionettes are dancing to the band's distinctive brand of folk punk. The resulting aesthetic of these pictures is unmistakable. Ruckhäberle's paintings are curiously accessible - but despite their simplicity, they do not shrink from being confrontational, engaging and challenging.
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1972 born in Pfaffenhofen (Germany)
1991-1993 Animation studies, California Institute of Arts Valencia, California (USA)
1993 Grant of the Walt Disney Character Animation Funds (USA)
1995-1999 Studies of painting at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig in the class of Prof. Arno Rink
2000-2002 Master Studies with Prof. Arno Rink
2007 Foundation of the LUBOK publishing house
2016-2022 Professorship for painting and graphics at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig
lives and works in Leipzig
Solo shows
- 2024 Liebende Frauen, Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
Sorry we're closed, Brussels (upcoming)
Waking up the picture 2, Goyang Aram Art Museum, Goyang (South Korea) - 2023 Der Schlüssel, Lundgren Gallery, Palma de Mallorca
Waking up the pictures, The Seouliteum, Seoul
Malelei, WESTSIDE, Leipzig - 2022 Das Gläserne Eck, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Spiel mit dem Feuer, AKI Gallery, Taipei (Taiwan)
2021 Art-Book: Pictoriality in Print, Musashino Art University Museum and Library, Tokyo
2019 Crippled Symmetry, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig
IMAGE, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
2018 César - Christoph Ruckhäberle, Sorry we're closed, Brussels
Noa Noa, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig
Print Selections, ZieherSmith Gallery, New York
Paradise Lost, Ampersand Gallery, Portland (USA)
2017 Volkskunst Fabrik, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst (Germany)
2016 Malerei/Grafik, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
New Paintings, ZieherSmith, New York
Christoph Ruckhäberle, Ampersand Gallery, Portland (USA)
Disparates, Bühlers, Fürth
2015 Kalif Storch, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig
Netsuke, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Kopenhagen
Behind the Green Door, Ampersand Gallery, Portland (USA)
2014 Tanz (Dance), Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Christoph Ruckhäberle - Polka, Galerie der Stadt Wels (Austria)
A Moveable Feast - PART VIII, Campoli Presti, Paris
2013 Dekoration (Decoration), Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon), Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf
Frühstück im Freien (Breakfast Outdoors), ZieherSmith Gallery, New York
Spazio Punch, Guidecca, Vienna
2012 Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon), Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Die Stadt, Campoli Presti, London
2011 The Pervert, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
2010 Christoph Ruckhäberle, Trapped in White Tiger Sanctum, Hospitalhof, Stuttgart
2009 Bäckerei (Bakery), Sutton Lane, Brussels
Parade, Sorry We Are Closed, Brussels
Emmerdeur Futuriste, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
Christoph Ruckhäberle, Migros Museum, Zurich
Dessins, Sutton Lane, Paris
Portraits, Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
2008 Lady in the Lake, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv
General Angst, Gallery Kleindienst, Leipzig
2007 l´homme et l´œuvre, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Incorrect Configuration, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
Christoph Ruckhäberle, Ulrich Museum of Art, Whichita State University, Wichita (USA)
Academy, Sutton Lane, London
Christoph Ruckhäberle: Residency, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
2006 Sutton Lane, Paris
LFL Gallery, New York
Zach Feuer Gallery, New York
Hobbyshop, Munich
Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
2005 Of Painting, Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
Nye Eventyr, Galleri Nicolai Wallner
The Party Fright, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
2004 Sutton Lane Gallery, London
Zirkus, LFL Gallery, New York
Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
2003 Frog with the mask, Gallery LIGA, Berlin
2002 Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Gallery LIGA, Berlin
2001 Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Group shows
- 2024 Hunger nach Bildern, Museum No Hero, Delden (Netherlands)
2023 Überdruck, Kaisertrutz Görlitz, Kaisertrutz
You, Wetsside Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig - 2022 Bilderkosmos Leipzig. 1905-2022, Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig
Barlach und die jungen Wilden, Ernst Barlach Museen, Güstrow
2021 German Painting Now, Telegraph, Olomouc (Czech Republic)
NEW, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Chow Chow, Werkschauhalle Spinnerei, Leipzig
2020 Gestern, heute, übermorgen, Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Oder
We are open, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
NEW 2, Westside, Leipzig - 2019 Gratwanderung, August Macke Haus, Bonn (Germany)
- Nähe und Distans, Landtag Brandenburg, Potsdam (Germany)
- Heads, Galerie der Stadt Wels, Wels (Austria)
- The Leipzig Connection, Croatian Association of Artists (HDLU), Zagreb (Croatia)
- 2018 Painting from Leipzig, Antonio Colombo, Milan
- Gaudiopolis, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig
- Dritte, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen (Germany)
- Eros and Thanatos. SØR Rusche Collection Oelde/Berlin, Museum Abtei Liesborn, Liesborn
- MdbK meets G2. Painting from Leipzig since 2000, Museum of Visual Arts, Leipzig
- Zeigen und Sagen, Deutsche Bundesbank Geldmuseum, Frankfurt/Main
- 2017 doing identity. Collection Reydan Weiss, Kunstmuseum Bochum (Germany)
- Ladder to Heaven, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen (Germany)
- Jetzt Druck machen, Angerlehner Museum, Thalheim (Austria)
- Pentomino #4, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig
- Monday is a Day between Sunday and Tuesday, Tanja Leighton, Berlin
- Our teenage dreams so hard to beat, Kunstraum Ortloff, Leipzig
- Printjam II, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig
- 2016 Storyteller. Contemporary Art from Leipzig, Nationale Art Museum & Goethe Institut Hanoi (Vietnam)
- Pink Powder - de la Cruz Collection, Cotilla Gallery, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA)
LUBOK - prints and artist books, Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus, Schwandorf
Always and Forever. 23th Leipziger Jahresausstellung, Westwerk, Leipzig
Made in Germany: Contemporary Art from the Rubell Family Collection, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (USA)
2015 Statement 2: New Painting from Germany, Goethe Institute, Hong Kong
2.5.0. Object is Meditation and Poetry, Grassi Museum, Leipzig
Love. The first of the seven virtues, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, New York (USA)
German Promises, Ornis A. Gallery, Amsterdam
Bittersweet TImes. Baroque and Present in the SØR Rusche Collection Oelde/Berlin, Arthouse Apolda Avangarde, Apolda (Germany)
Leipzig 2015. Hildebrand Collection, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig
Spinnerei Artists Show, Werkschauhalle, Leipzig
MASH UP 2, Hardenbergstraße, Leipzig
Familiar Society, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig
Camera Obscura, Kunstverein Pfaffenhofen, Pfaffenhofen (Germany)
Good Art? Want! SØR Rusche Collection Oelde/Berlin, Auf AEG, Nürnberg
VOLTA 11, Markthalle, Basel -
2014 bb, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Bittersweet Times, Baroque und Present in SØR Rusche Collection Oelde/Berlin, Kunsthaus Stade (Germany)
Amorphophallus, Galeri Ehrentraut, Berlin
Print Jam, Archiv Massiv, Leipzig
Where is here? #1: Painting and Present, Kunstverein Reutlingen (Germany)
2013 Affinities. Modern Painting and drawing from the Collection Frieder Burda, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf (Switzerland)
LUBOK in Mexico, Museo de la Estampa del Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura, Toluca (Mexico)
Jahre Zukunft, Galerie Notwehr, Sonneberg (Germany)
ZWEITE, Kulturhalle, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm (Germany)
LUBOK in Mexico, Centro Cultural Clavijero, Morelia (Mexico)
Purchased - New Acquisitions of the Graphic Collection 2003 - 2013, Museum of Visual Arts, Leipzig
LUBOK. Grafica contemporanea y libros de artistas de Leipzig, Galería de Arte Contemporáneo del Teatro Isauro Martínez Torreón, Coahuila (Mexico)
Cliche Verre, Spinnerei archiv massiv, Leipzig
Berlin Klondyke, Hipphalle, Gmunden (Austria)
2012 Berlin-Klondyke, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen (Germany)
german now - from Leipzig, Seongnam Art Center, Seoul (South Korea)
Lubok, Grafica contemporánea y libros de artistas de Leipzig, Museo Nacional de la Estampa, Mexico City
Lubok. Graphic and Artist Books from Leipzig,Kulturbahnhof Eller, Düsseldorf
2011 Convoy Leipzig, Biksady Gallery, Budapest
Parcours, Auf AEG, Nürnberg
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Gallery Reinhard Hauff, Stuttgart
After The Goldrush, Art association, Speyer (Germany)
Saxonia Paper, Art hall of Sparkasse, Leipzig
2009 60/40/20. Art in Leipzig since 1949, Museum of Visual Arts, Leipzig
People Pictures 1620/2009. Contemporary Images meet old Dutch portaits, Museum Abtei Liesborn, Wadersloh (Germany)
2008 The Leipzig Phenomenon, Art hall, Budapest
Manifesta7, European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Trentino (Italy)
Drawcula, Gallery Kleindienst, Leipzig
New Leipzig School, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen (Netherlands)
as always, association of etching, Munich
2007 Since Leipzig, art hall Wittenhagen (Germany)
Life After Death: New Leipzig Paintings from the Rubell Family Collection, Frye Art Museum, Seattle / Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City / Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City (USA)
Poets on Painters, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Wichita (USA)
Made in Leipzig - Pictures of a city, Essl Collection, Royal Palace Hartenfels, Torgau (Germany)
2006 Triumph of Painting, Saatchi Gallery, London
Kantor/Feuer Gallery Los Angeles
Artists from Leipzig, Arario Gallery, Cheonan (South Korea)
Back to the image, Hypo art hall, Munich
Summer exhibition, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Ballkünstler, Museum of Visual Arts Leipzig
Made in Leipzig – Pictures of a City, Essl Collection, Klosterneuburg/Vienna
2005 Cold Hearts: Artists from Leipzig, Arario Gallery, Korea
Sutton Lane in Paris, Sutton Lane c/o Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
Reflection Part II, Sutton Lane, London
From Leipzig. Works from the Ovitz Family Collection, Museum of Art, Cleveland
The Dresden and Leipzig Schools, 2. Prague Biennial, Prague
Leipzig in Dessau, Meisterhäuser Bauhaus, Dessau
Collection Olbricht, New Museum Weserburg, Bremen
Life after Death, MassMoCA, North Adams
Quartet, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel-Aviv
Baby Shower, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
Neo-Con, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise at the Passerby, New York
2004 The New Leipzig School of Painting, Contemporay Museum, Baltimore
East International, curated by Neo Rauch, Norwich School of Art and Design (Norge)
Clara Park – MarianneBoesky Gallery, New York
Annual exhibition, Leipzig
2003 Grassland, Gallery Wassermann, Munich
Lazarus Effect, Biennial Prague
Seven Times Painting, Museum of Visual Arts Leipzig
Max Pechstein Award, Museum Zwickau
LIGA - Young art from Leipzig, art association Neustadt
Seven Times Painting, Museum of Visual Arts Leipzig
Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
2002 Desired images, Museum of Visual Arts Leipzig
Convoi, Metallgalerie, IG Metal, Frankfurt/Main
Two-dimensional, art hall of the Sparkassen Leipzig
Leipsig larks. Young painters at Kulturhof Flachsgasse, Speyer
5 x 5 Young art from Saxony, New Sächsische Galerie Chemnitz
Young art from Leipzig, art association Sulzfeld
5 from 11, Gallery LIGA, Berlin
Welcome to Leipzig, exhibition room of the Liga Frankfurt/Main
Convoi, Kulturspeicher Oldenburg
2001 Painting, Gallery Kleindienst, Leipzig
Young Painting, Gallery Binz and Krämer, Cologne
Arte Saxonia, Kuppelhalle of the Dresdner Bank, Leipzig
Leipzig painters, art association Gallery Markt Brucksmühl
2000 Young art 5, Gallery Kleindienst, Leipzig
LIGA, Steibs Hof, Leipzig
Bibliography
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2015 Tasos Gaintatzis / Marina Legaki: How artist Christoph Ruckhäberle seamlessly fuses art, cinema & print, The Hundreds, 26.01.2015
Christoph Ruckhäberle - Pattern No. 1 (artist book), Ampersand Editions, Portland (USA)
Sabine Reithmaier: Der Tanz geht weiter, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 28.09.2015
2014 Christoph Ruckhäberle - Polka (artist book), LUBOK, Leipzig
Jens Kassner: Tanz aus der Reihe, Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ), 26.06.2014
2013 Karen Rosenberg: Christoph Ruckhäberle: Frühstück im Freien, New York Times, 25.10.2013
Helena Nilsson Strängberg: Christoph Ruckhäberle. False Figuration, Apartamento, 12/2013
Karin Derstroff: Künstler, Verleger, Kinobesitzer, Pfaffenhofener Kurier, 20.04.2013
2011 Christoph Tannert: Tilo Baumgärtel, Vitamin P2. New Perspectives in Painting, Phaidon, London/New York
Sara Suzuki: What Is a Print? Selections from the Museum of Modern Art, MoMa, New York
Roberta Smith: It’s Not Dry Yet, New York Times, 28.03.2011
Ungt Paralleller: Samtidsmaleri fra Norge / Leipzig (catalog), Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker (Norway)
Susanne Altmann: Jetzt Druck machen, ART Magazine, December 2011
2010 Sara Veglahn: Sara Veglahn on Christoph Ruckhäberle, Poets on Painters
2009 Christoph Ruckhäberle: L Emmerdeur Futuriste (catalog), Galleri Nicolai Wallner / Space Poetry, Kopenhagen
Urs Steiner: Schminke und Masken. Karla Black und Christoph Ruckhäberle im Migros-Museum für Gegenwartskunst Zürich, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), 23.05.2009
Ingeborg Ruthe: Die Luboks sind zurück, Berliner Zeitung, 15.01.2009
Susanne Altmann: Druckgrafik. Siemon & Ruckhäberle, ART Magazine, 26.05.2009
2008 Kunstwerkstatt - Christoph Ruckhäberle (catalog), Prestel, München/Berlin
2006 Raul Zamudio: Christoph Ruckhäberle, Flash Art, Juli 2006
Roberta Smith: Art in Review: Christoph Ruckhäberle, The New York Times, 07.04.2006
2005 Christoph Ruckhäberle - Die Flasche Bakbuk (catalog), Zach Feuer Gallery, New York / Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig / Sutton Lane, London / Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen
Gregory Volk: Figuring the New Germany, Art in America, June 2005
2004 Christoph Ruckhäberle - Zirkus (catalog), LFL Gallery, New York
Joao Ribas: Debut. Discovering emerging artists - Christoph Ruckhäberle, ArtReview, September 2004
Ken Johnson: Christoph Ruckhäberle, The New York Times, 16.07.2004
2002 Christoph Ruckhäberle (catalog), Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Gregor Hohenberg: Neue School, The New York Times