Anselm Reyle, born in 1970, is one of Germany's most prominent contemporary artists.Shortly after graduating from the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe in 1997, he moved to Berlin. Known for his large-scale, hyper-detailed abstract paintings, sculptures and elaborate installations with neon elements, the artist has held a teaching position at the Painting Department of the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg since 2009.

Before specializing in painting and sculpture, Rael's first interests were in landscape design and music. He was inspired by the psychedelic art of the 1960s, with particular attention to the fluorescent-colored, hard-edged "political propaganda"-style graphic design of the early punk movement. His work - ranging from large-scale abstract paintings to highly recognizable sculptures - often makes a strong impression.

Leier often uses abstract graphics, artificial colors, and non-traditional materials such as aluminum foil, straw bales, and polyester film for window displays; he also works with industrial wastes produced by social development, such as metal materials - car parts, damaged computer equipment, or glass. Pigments, molding pastes, and automotive paints are also often found in his work.

Many of Rael's works are highly reflective, with striking colors, and are often literally glowing due to the use of neon lights or LEDs, sometimes covered with acrylic glass. He prefers to use dissonant color schemes, and the textures of the stripes in his works are unusual, such as the silver aluminum foil and glittering black sandpaper hardly seen in the usual color gamut of works.

In the post-war wave of abstraction, Rael satirized the fantasies of the formalists while meticulously continuing his striped paintings. Critically reflecting on mainstream codes of taste and the sometimes utopian ideals of modern abstraction, he sought to challenge the distinction between kitsch and high art in his work.