Large-size works characterized by power , dynamic and bright colors are typical of Rainer Fetting. His preferred subjects are people and the big city. At a first glance, the Indian seems a bit out of place here, however, picturing him in the urban jungle of Berlin in the 1980s, he is just a typical Fetting character.
The German painter and sculptor was born in Wilhelmshaven on December 31, 1949. He initially began an apprenticeship as carpenter and a traineeship in stage design at the ‘Niedersächsische Landesbühne Wilhelmshaven’ before he was master student of Karl Horst Hödicke at the Berlin University of the Arts. Fetting can certainly be described as a rebel. As early as 1978, he and fellow students founded the 'Künstlerselbsthilfe' gallery on Moritzplatz in Berlin. Known as the "Junge Wilden", these young artists became decisive forces in the artistic revolution of the 1980s in Europe. Artistic life and work in insular West Berlin in particular, with its fertile subculture, not only drove Fetting towards self-determination and sexual freedom, which undoubtedly became manif in his work. In the year "Blue Indian (selbst)" was created, Fetting not only took part in the important "Zeitgeist" exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, but also showcased his art at the 40th Venice Biennale. Trying out different roles was an important part of the revolt against West German Philistinism, whether in provocative role plays or by adopting exotic identities such as that of an "Indian". In the 1981 film "Room full of Mirrors (Super 8)", for example, Fetting and Luciano Castelli portray themselves as "Indians" in the wild landscape of the island of Lanzarote. With prey in sight, the hunter's bow and his nerves are tense. In the painting, Fetting shows himself in the light of the setting sun as a warrior for a new, radical art, liberated from all convention and translated into his very own signature style. The powerful expression of the "Indian" is underlined by the skillful accentuation in the three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. They unmistakably underline the steadfastness of the muscular 'urban Indian' Fetting on his quest for pristine and triumphant achievements in art. Fetting is still one of the most important German artists today, regularly on the hunt for further success, and still actively questioning the conventions of art history. [AW]