Richard Rutner. Recent Work. Curator Lily Fürstenow

Text. Lily Fürstenow

Richard Rutner. Tongue and Tundra

Recent Work

April-May 2026

Text. Dr. Lily Fürstenow

Shamanic sneaking snake slightly visible on the edges of the flat medial surface wanders from one picture to the other in Richard Rutner’s cycle Tongue and Tundra. Made during his travels in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado this alpine cycle lets the viewer wander and follow the snake or more specifically its tongue that feels the way through what appears to be untouched nature. Light yellow desert land is outlined by the serpent coils. From landscape to landscape we follow the snake’s trace through yellow sands with supple green slopes that form the horizon. Sometimes these are interrupted by dark shadows of mountains against idyllic light blue skies and occasional fluffy clouds. Occasionally the scissored snake tongue takes over the picture space appearing ominous, in other pieces it casts shadows – short or long indicating the passage of time. Landscape greens interchange from lush dark rain-soaked to lighter hues. It all appears on the move with carefully calculated colour gradations rendering movement. 

The snake tongue becomes one with the ancestral mask of the tribes inhabiting these lands from primordial times. Rendered by the artist in the edges and towards the corners of the picture space with only tips of the ears seen it seems as if this mysterious masked creature takes the part of an alert observer always around out there retaining its unobtrusive presence. It’s depicted with elongated pointed mask-like silhouette reminiscent of a totem perched on a pole and offers a certain sense of sacral aura to the abandoned tundra – ancestral spirit taking care of what is left of the sacral land.

In our technologically advanced age there’s for sure no such thing as untouched nature. Humans have irrevocably destroyed it centuries ago. Local indigenous tribes that once populated the American continent have been uprooted and their ancestral beliefs proclaimed heretic. Yet ancestral heritage persists and survives for those whose eyes are open: inscribed in the landscape and underneath.

Richard Rutner’s Subterranean Landscape cycle opens up what is obviously hidden under the earth’s surface and from common travellers eye. Carefully painted organic forms, coils and the reiterating mask motives reveal the impressive force of nature below the surface. Depicted against darker backgrounds these are winding structures like roots or subterranean waters, creatures and monsters that reiterate the silhouette of the winding snake above, chaotic and powerful they’re in various shades of greens, blues and ochre tones varying from more earthbound and gloomy to lighter reddish and browns. The whole richness of this world underneath becomes evident in the meticulously painted details e.g. criss-crossed lines, spirals, oval bubbles and curves with faded blues, reds, yellows and greens delicately defining the miraculous forms.

Perhaps the most impressive of it all is Rutner’s cycle of orchids: as mysterious and enigmatic as ever. Like Georgia O’Keeffe’s flowers these orchids have supranatural powers. Their petals fill the whole picture space. The flowing colours vary from dark violet to light bluish and purple. The stems are strong and the forms are in a wild dance-like motion. The dark orchids are in full bloom and cast their spell on us. They’re depicted by the artist bigger than life as if engulfing everything around. One almost smells their toxic aroma. 

In this ecologically conscious cycle artist Richard Rutner attempted to give tribute to his impressions from numerous travels across American continent admiring its idiosyncratic environmental diversity and cultural heritage. Through this artistic cycle he surely found very special common tongue with nature and all its sacral creatures.