Pure Taste Indicator - Artist Page

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Arnulf Rainer (Austrian, b.1929) is considered one of the most inventive Abstract painters of the 20th century, and is known for frequently masking and overpainting illustrations and photographs in his work. Through pursuing a technique concentrated on the destruction of form, Rainer intends to reinvent the pure status of the image, or?as he has commented?to create a symbiosis of the old and new. Rainer briefly studied at the Academy for Applied Arts and the Academy for Fine Arts in Vienna, first painting in a Magic Realist style, and later creating work influenced by American Abstract Expressionism. In the 1950s, Rainer experimented with his overpaintings, covering up previously created drawings with layers of paint and creating a singular, dominant monochrome work. He also created works involving his own body, and painted while under the influence of drugs, using techniques reminiscent of the Vienna Actionist artists.
Source : http://www.artnet.com/artists/arnulf-rainer/biography