Andreas Reiter Raabe (*1960) lives and works in Vienna. His work deals both in practice and in theory with the essence of painting and its positioning in art history. Reiter Raabe uniquely combines several professions in one person: conceptual artist, painter, art theorist, art critic, curator and collector.
He studied ethnology at the University of Vienna and arts at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Since the early 1990s Reiter Raabe has exhibited his own works and curated exhibitions in Vienna and internationally (including Berlin, Esslingen, London, Edinburgh, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney). Reiter Raabe's works of art can be assigned to conceptual art without leaving painting out of the picture. He explains this as follows: "Conceptual art is a model for my painting, but I am far too emotional. I see it as a challenge that everything was allowed in conceptual art - with the exception of painting. I ask questions. They often occur to me while painting, while the paint dries: Why do people still paint today? Why can you still do art at all?" (Die Presse, 06.12.2012) The traditional medium of painting is being questioned and new possibilities are being opened up. Instead of the classic oil paint, Reiter Raabe uses industrial paint and also the brush as a tool is set aside. The paint unfolds its physical properties on the canvas or another carrier medium by dripping, flowing, emptying, sticking, drying. The theoretical examination of fellow artists not only becomes visible in his work, but also takes on the analytical documentary form of interviews. He has already had conversations with conceptual artists such as Ed Ruscha, Louise Lawler, John Baldessari, Daniel Buren, Dan Graham, Tacita Dean and Andreas Gursky. Dialogue as a cycle of knowledge plays an important role in Andreas Reiter Raabe's oeuvre.