Work group III · 4 works
Instinct, Nature and Myth
Animal figures between primal strength and cultural meaning
In this group of works, the animal becomes a carrier of meaning. Rike Wölke does not paint nature studies but images of primal presence: in “Stier Taurus,” sensuality, abundance and renewal condense; “Instinktives Feingefühl” joins physical strength with sensitivity, while “Zebra 1” and “Zebra 2” confront the wilderness with the visible traces of human mobility. It is always the animal that determines the inner tension of the pictorial space.
Gestural black-and-white painting, neon traces, blossoms, gold leaf and collage act as layers of meaning. Nature and civilization, instinct and cultural order, vulnerability and resilience enter into an open dialogue.
Curatorial Perspective
I
Description
Animal figures in large formats: the bull in “Stier Taurus” (180 × 200 cm), the animal figure in “Instinktives Feingefühl” and two zebras in dialogue with traces of human mobility. Gestural black-and-white painting meets neon traces, blossoms, gold leaf and collage.
II
Idea
The animal becomes a carrier of meaning. “Stier Taurus” condenses sensuality, abundance and renewal; “Instinktives Feingefühl” combines strength with sensitivity. In “Zebra 1” and “Zebra 2,” wilderness and civilization meet.
III
Context
The group stands in the long tradition of the animal as symbol, from myth to modernism. Wölke connects this iconography with contemporary mixed-media painting and raises questions about instinct, nature and cultural order.
IV
What sets it apart
At 180 × 200 cm, “Stier Taurus” is Wölke’s largest work in the gallery and is finished with gold leaf. “Instinktives Feingefühl” combines charcoal drawing and acrylic. “Zebra 1” and “Zebra 2” (each 60 × 100 cm) can be hung as a pair.
V
For collectors & spaces
For collectors, these works form the most symbolically dense side of Wölke’s position: physically present, materially layered and with a clear impact from a distance. As independent key works or in dialogue with one another, they connect contemporary animal figuration with questions about nature, civilization and archaic pictorial forces.