Ralf Altrieth (1966) - Übung Schön Dreckig

Ralf Altrieth (Heilbronn, 1966).

Acrylic on marouflaged paper on melamine-faced wood panel, 'Übung Schön Dreckig', 2014

65 x 50 cm, ready to hang.

SOLD by: Recodier Art - agent, France

DOCUMENTATION :

A dated and signed certificate of authenticity is included.

DESCRIPTION :

Signed on the back 'Ralf Altrieth' with a black felt-tip pen.
Marked on the front 'RA 14' with paint.

This painting presents a fragmented face, almost caught between appearance and erasure. The shapes are deliberately unstable: the portrait is not given at first glance; it is rebuilt in the viewer's gaze, through successive layers of color and gesture. The central eye acts as an anchoring point, while the rest of the face seems to oscillate between presence and dislocation.

The palette is dominated by deep tones of burgundy, muted pink, and off-whites, punctuated by brighter touches of blue and ochre. The material is free, sometimes thick, sometimes rubbed or scratched, revealing revisions and overlays that reinforce the sense of inner movement. The background, almost architectural, both encloses and supports the figure, like a mental or emotional frame.

The ensemble exudes a strong expressive intensity. It is not a descriptive portrait, but a sensitive exploration of identity: a face perceived as a field of forces, traversed by tensions, silences and traces. This work adopts a decidedly contemporary approach, where gesture and matter take precedence over likeness, leaving ample room for the collector's personal interpretation.

This painting is part of a series of about fifty unique works.

Ralf Altrieth (born in 1966 in Heilbronn, Germany) is a German painter and musician living in France since 2006. He has been expressing himself for more than thirty years through a plural artistic practice, which includes painting, drawing, linocut, installations, sculpture and photography, as well as contemporary music and jazz.

Very early drawn to the visual arts, he takes private lessons with painter Georg Schaible at the age of 14, before joining the Nürtingen Academy of Fine Arts from 1987 to 1989. In parallel, he discovers and practices the saxophone and jazz from the age of 20.

The career of Ralf Altrieth is defined by total artistic freedom: from his early days he has claimed an autonomy of creation that is expressed through a wide diversity of media and artistic languages.

He has lived and worked in several European cities — including Berlin, Freiburg, Erlangen, Paris and Venice — before settling permanently in the south of France, where he develops his practice.

Ralf Altrieth has exhibited in numerous galleries and cultural venues in France and abroad, including the Hartmut Beck Gallery in Erlangen, MAC Paris, the Galerie Théo de Seine in Paris, Galerie N5 in Montpellier, the Château d’Assas, and other art spaces. His works are in private collections in Europe and beyond.

In addition to his visual practice, he is the co-founder of the music label Meta Records and has collaborated with many musicians, often incorporating music as a source of inspiration into his visual work.

His work is frequently described as living at the intersection of gestural expressionism, neo-expressionism, and lyrical abstraction, where line and color function as a form of writing that explores movement, spontaneity, and intuitive narration.