Raphael Rack

Born 1968 in Bad Homburg 

Raphael Rack - composer of colour tapestries woven from soul and time

Most of Raphael Rack's paintings do without titles. Viewers are thrown directly into a sea of colours, applied and removed in countless layers. One wants to immerse oneself in this energy and dynamic that emerges on the canvas. "I don't want to pretend anything. I am interested in the complexity of the works. That's why I work on them for a very long time," says Raphael Rack. 

Born in Bad Homburg in 1968, the painter was encouraged to paint at a young age by his grandmother, who was a talented draughtswoman. Even as a schoolboy, he sold small model figures that he had artistically designed himself. The trigger to pursue an artistic career finally came in 1987 when he visited the “documenta” in Kassel with the art performance course. "There I saw a picture by Gerhard Richter, a realistic view of Cologne Cathedral - that was a key experience," he says. In the painting "Dome Corner", light and shadow play impressively with each other, allowing power and beauty to glimmer.

Raphael Rack applied to the “Hochschule für Gestaltung” in Offenbach am Main (HfG) in 1989 at the age of only 19 and was accepted as the youngest applicant with his portfolio. In the examination tasks, he excelled above all with a metaphysical self-portrait. "I was glad that I was accepted. But the teaching at the HfG was too theoretical for me," he admits. Raphael Rack is an artist who is inspired by everything that surrounds him. At first, he painted realistically - his abstract colour compositions emerged in a later phase of his life by expanding his perception.