« I feel closer to a romantic vision of the world and my work aims above all to transcribe the reality of perceptions and emotions. »

Léopold Rabus

The human figures depicted by the Swiss artist Léopold Rabus (born 1977) are often ill-fated, gruesome, awkward, or crazy, but always humorous. Against the backdrop of a realistically rendered woodland scene with toadstools, a deserted shed, or wooden house in the forest, he paints people from his immediate surroundings. Rabus focuses on the decrepit, forgotten, and unspectacular places on his doorstep, sometimes making the landscape itself his central motif. Rabus has developed his own independent visual language that allows him to address the great issues of human existence and to place them in a contemporary context. His inimitable oeuvre is presented in this publication with an illuminating essay by Markus Stegmann and an interview with the artist.