... These very real estates are photographed, then printed in publications from which Rappenecker selects his images, having them digitally scanned and then Bubble Jet printed onto large sheets of paper which he then mounts on board and paints over with acrylics. His 'Real Estates' are thus fith-generation pictures that have been mechanically, chemically, electronically and manually transformed. ... The estates on display are among the most elaborate manifestations of human interaction with reality that we can imagine. They expose our intelligence and folly, our generosity and greed, our artistry and vanity as fully as if they were great portraits.
... It's difficult not to covet, even if only momentarily, the properties listed in "Homes and Land", wether it's an adobe outside of Santa Fe, or a modest "oceanfront cottage" selling for a mere $ 3.8 million. But, Rappenecker's work reminds usthat here, too, we're just a kind of tourist pausing at a scenic overlook in admiration of a territory most of us will never inhabit. Once again he contrasts our desire for the perfectly unique and sublime with the mass marketing used to sell it, leaving behind his paintings as souvenir-mementos from this detour into our romantic expectations.