artist/ Gross

Belgique

Rainer Gross is internationally known for his sculptural installations in historic buildings or in nature. These monumental constructions composed of wooden slats and planks are characterised by their curved and/or straight forms.
Each of these site-specific works emerges from a kind of symbiotic and meditative relationship with the place concerned. Almost always, the (ephemeral) projects are inspired by reflections on transience and the fragility of the material world.

“There are always existential reflections underlying my installations. They speak of the passing of time, of impermanence. But I always emphasise that for me the sculptural aspects are paramount.” Rainer Gross

In the studio, Rainer Gross practised direct carving for a long time, first in stone and marble, then in wood with chainsaws. In the meantime, he uses various techniques and materials, either alone or in combination. His current work is deliberately influenced by his installations in several ways: first of all formally, by focusing on curvilinear and/or straight structures, but also technically (assembly of similar or identical elements = Variations), and material-related (by “recycling” wood that was part of monumental constructions = Transformations).
Thus, for example, the works “transformed” into bronze are based on certain slats of dismantled installations that the artist reassembles in a linear approach with various inclinations and orientations, for a very sculptural result. This process has made it possible to link in one and the same sculpture the memory of the past installation with the presence of the cast work which projects itself into the future.
As for the perennial works that Rainer Gross calls Variations, they are conceived as a constellation of sculptures taking up identical forms inspired by an installation. These shapes are translated into drawings and then produced in large numbers in either metal or wood. The actual creative process, combining the parts, only begins afterwards.

“The basic idea is to combine identical or similar pieces in different ways to produce constructions that are different. It is the same principle that underlies the installations which, although very different in appearance, derive from the principle of combining very few components of the same kind in ever new and modified ways: either long, slim and thus flexible slats, or rigid slats.” Rainer Gross