Rudolf Stingel
1956–
Since the outset of his career in the 1980s, Rudolf Stingel has consistently sought to broaden the possibilities of painting. He moves freely among styles and genres, flouting the barriers between handmade and mechanically made, abstract and representational. He has often worked at the intersection of painting and architecture: in 2013 he covered the interior of a Venetian palazzo in a digitally printed facsimile of an antique carpet. For his solo exhibition at the Whitney in 2007, he installed foil-covered insulation on the walls and invited viewers to draw on and incise into it. Many of Stingel’s “paintings” record action on a surface—a condition that the artist seems to indicate is the essential requirement of the medium.
In 2005 Stingel began working in a photorealistic style, using other artists’ photographs as a starting point. His subjects have since included many self- portraits from various points in his life, as well as portraits of his long-time gallerist Paula Cooper and paintings of religious statuary. Untitled (After Sam) is from a self-portrait series based on photographs taken by the artist Sam Samore. Moody and monumental in scale, the image juxtaposes an intense emotional weight with a cold, mechanical method of rendering. By continually reflecting upon some of the fundamental questions concerning painting, including process, authenticity, meaning, and context, Stingel evades typical definitions of the creative act.
Introduction
Rudolf Stingel (born 1956) is an artist based in New York City.
Stingel was born in Merano, Italy. His work engages the audience in dialogue about their perception of art and uses conceptual painting and installations to explore the process of creation. Using readily available materials such as styrofoam, carpet, and cast polyurethane, Stingel creates art based upon an underlying conceptual framework and challenges contemporary notions about painting. The surfaces of his two-dimensional works are characteristically carved out, imprinted or indented, visibly evidencing the artist's alteration of industrial matter. He lives in New York and Merano, Italy.
Wikidata identifier
Q2173916
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed May 9, 2025.
Country of birth
Italy
Roles
Artist, concept artist, conceptual artist, installation artist, painter, sculptor
ULAN identifier
500126270
Names
Rudolf Stingel
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed May 9, 2025.
