Johannes Paul Raether at his studio. Photo© Maxime Ballesteros
Johannes Paul Raether is a German artist, and we don’t mean this only in the narrow sense of the word. His work – with titles impossible to translate from the German – scrutinizes symbols of German national identity and other quintessentially German phenomena. Special attention is given to authorities and bureaucratic absurdities. Which is not to say that his rehashing of these themes is not universal. In fact, Raether may be regarded as a cultural delegate of sorts, refracting aspects of German society through his very specific lens. His polemics call forth the political satire of German agitprop theatre and the absurdist rage of Christoph Schlingensief, but these are veiled in the naiveté of the fantastical multicolored, full-body costumes he makes for his performances, complete with impressively impasto facial foundation in the brightest colours imaginable.
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