Ostalgie as Verfremdungseffekt in Neo Rauch’s Paintings

Authors

Beret Norman, Boise State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Contribution to Books

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Abstract

The 47 year ol Leipzig painter, New Rauch¹, would not normally be considered next to such an obvious Ostalgie² persona as the 1988 Olympic gold medalist, Katharina Witt, who in 2003 was a moderator of the RLT television program called the "DDR Show: von Ampelmännchen bis zum Zentralkommittee."³ His paintings are not as assessable as Ostprodukte and consumer-Ostalgie mainstays, like tiny Tabant replicas, Vita Cola posters or Mitropa coffee cups. However, within his work lies an implicit connection to Ostalgie. One finds an underlying role of Ostalgie in Rauch's paintings through a Brechtian Verfremdungs-Effeckt.

Publication Information

Norman, Beret. (2008). "Ostalgie as Verfremdungseffekt in Neo Rauch’s Paintings". Ossi Wessi, 75-88.