Press release
16 January to 6 March 2004 Galerie Michael Werner exhibits paintings of George Baselitz from the year 2003.
'For me the problem consisted of not creating anecdotic, descriptive pictures. On the other hand the nebulous arbitrariness of the theory of the abstract painting was always hated. The reversal of the motif in the picture gave me the liberty to deal with pictorial problems. (Siegfried Gohr: Über Baselitz. Aufsätze und Gespräche 1976 - 1996. Cologne 1996, p. 60)'
The large works in this exhibition depict the artist, sometimes alone, sometimes with his wife, Elke. Small attributes assign individual roles to these figures. The 'Smuggler' wears four wrist-watches, which for Baselitz symbolize vanitas; at the feet of the couple in the painting 'Erinnerung an Brüsseler Spitzen II', showing the artist with his wife Elke, is an ornamental object which corresponds with the title of the painting; 'Veteran mit Maurermütze' differs from 'Veteran mit Halsband' mainly by the details represented in the title—both are similar to 'Letzter Versuch'. All of the male figures have similar clothing: short trousers, shoes, socks and cap. This repeated depiction gives the appearance of individual figures as in a religious picture. A concentration on the main motif of figures in underwear with shoes is evident in the painting '10 ½', which focuses on the lower-body of the male figure. The autobiographic double portraits with Baselitz and his wife Elke takes up the traditional Renaissance representation of a wedding couple.
The characteristic spontaneity of Baselitz’s oil paintings has much in common with the volatile nature of his sketches. Fine elaboration and variety of detail do not characterize these works; rather, they are concerned with intimation and attention to the individual motif. During the 1960s Baselitz focused intensely with the art of mentally ill, and was fascinated by its spontaneity. In his own process he often uses his entire body in the act of painting. Despite his free and experimental process Baselitz has always been dedicated to figuration.
Born on 23 January 1938 as Hans George Kern in the village of Deutschbaselitz in Saxony, the artist later adopted the name Baselitz. In 1969 he began to paint pictures with the motif upside down (the first such picture is 'Der Wald auf dem Kopf', Museum Ludwig, Cologne). Since then he has worked according to this method, which gives the viewer an imprecise reading of the motif and brings up for discussion the analysis of the painting itself. By 1962 the artist already attracted attention with the painting 'Die große Nacht im Eimer', depicting a masturbating man. It was seized by the public prosecutor's office during the exhibition in the gallery Werner & Katz in Berlin. Today it is placed in the museum Ludwig in Cologne.
