In the decade following the creation of the Wirklichkeiten group of artists, Franz Ringel concentrated on a series of paintings featuring naked bodies seen mostly face forward. His human figures are highly exaggerated and often have sexual connotations. They refer constantly to the artist himself; as he wrote, ‘I am actually incredibly locked up, trapped, bound in my own person. I have tried to free myself, but I cannot. The more I paint, the more I paint myself.’ In addition to Eros, Ringel was driven by fear, producing works which repeatedly show a split and multiplication of the subject, often through many eyes in one head or through figures that have grown together into a duality and often only have one torso. They are sometimes referred to as his Hermaphrodite Paintings.

An excessive, strong line and an intense, masterful use of colour run through Ringel’s work. His painting is direct and immediate, but at the same time also reflective, constantly in search of self-knowledge. He was much influenced by his encounter with Jean Dubuffet in Paris in 1972, which led to a friendly relationship between the two. The artist drew inspiration from Dubuffet’s Art Brut, reinforced by close contacts with Leo Navratil and the Gugging artists.
 
Later in life a deep engagement with music and literature became important, resulting in the Beethoven Cycle of 1991 and the Divine Comedy Cycle of 1995.

The paintings shown here are in date order, starting with works from 1967 and 68. The last few, from the 1990s and 2000s, show him simplifying and refining his art towards the end of his life.