The Wave that Started it All with Christian Ruckerbauer
In this interview, I chat with Austrian painter Christian Ruckerbauer, also known as Rucksi, about his famous wave paintings that garnered international attention through Instagram. Rucksi discusses the inspiration he draws from Fauvism and Abstract Expressionism, as well as his love for impasto and gestural, spontaneous painting.
Hi Christian! Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
I was born in a small village in Austria, in the midst of Europe in 1957. My father was a teacher and painter! I studied Visuelle Gestaltung at the Masterclass of Architect Laurids Ortner at Kunsthochschule Linz (now Kunstuniversität Linz). After that I was working as a Gallerist in Linz and Cologne (Germany) for 4 years, curating art shows of famous Austrian Artists such as Arnulf Rainer and others. After that I started to work as an art teacher (at bbs Rohrbach) and I continue to do that now!
When did you delve into abstract painting?
When I was 13 years old I did my first abstract painting consciously, inspired by the art books of my father (mostly impressionism, expressionism, Kandinsky). I always loved abstract and expressionism, fauvism, Van Gogh - everything with gesture, expression, impasto, color.
What inspired you to paint waves, and how have your wave paintings evolved over the years?
I had a commission for my wifes sister. She wanted a blue painting. When I looked at the finished painting, I discovered that it looked almost like water, waves. That was the point. I wanted to get deeper into this! So I started to move my brush like waves of water, expressing from inside my love of the sea, expressing the joy of moving like waves on the ocean.
Can you tell me a bit about your process and technique?
I use acrylic paint and I love to paint in a very messy style in my art studio. Expressing my feelings from inside very directly, spontaneously without much thinking directly on the canvas. No planning, no drawing ... just the fun and flow of putting colorful paint in my gestures on to the canvas. Almost like dancing. No time, just HERE and NOW! Life itself, expressing itself.
When did you join instagram, and how has it impacted you as an artist?
My students at school inspired me to join instagram in 2015! They told me to use hashtags! When some celebrities and artfeeds reposted my paintings my followers grew! So i started to sell my paintings in many countries! But as I earn my living by being a teacher, that is not so important. I love the feedback and I love to discover artists I would never have met in the museums (curators, there are a lot more great artists out there in the world!)
Which artists have inspired you the most?
Starting as a teen with the books in my father's library, I loved the Impressionists, Van Gogh, Gauguin and the Expressionists, Fauvists, Picasso, Soutine, and later on the Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer, the English artists Auerbach, Bacon, the American de Kooning and lot more.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am painting over prints of my own work, paraphrasing my most famous wave paintings.