Distorted portraits: Georg Baselitz’s ghostly oil works at White Cube

There’s a hint of the megalomaniac in Georg Baselitz’s art. In recent years his output has accelerated, as if he is battling to keep up with the frantic energy he projects in his work. In his latest show, ‘Wir fahren aus (We’re off)', the scale and number of his paintings, drawings and sculptures can barely be contained by the cavernous White Cube in Bermondsey.
Baselitz focuses on his subjects with an intensity that borders on the obsessive. With the exception of two sculptures, everything on show in ‘Wir fahren aus’ is based on a handful of figurative subjects.
In the monumental oil paintings – 16 of them altogether – Baselitz has returned to an older portrait of himself and his wife Elke. Their bodies are rendered as stark, contorted figures in white or pink, floating in thin mists of paint against dark backgrounds. At their best, these works live up to their enormous scales with a clarity of composition and subtlety of texture.
The inspiration for these paintings came from Otto Dix, the influential portraitist of inter-war Germany; in fact, throughout ‘Wir fahren aus’ there are hints of an expressive, macabre German and Austrian tradition that also includes Egon Schiele and George Grosz. This is especially true of the works in ink, which combine an aggressive, incisive line with vaporous blotches of yellow and purple watercolour.
Baselitz is almost 80, and one of this exhibition’s main themes is aging. It appears that, like many artists before him, this preoccupation will only make him more productive.
The ever prolific artist has accelerated of late; even the cavernous White Cube can barely contain the scale and number of his paintings, drawings and sculptures. Pictured: Oh god, ma tutto occupato (Ach herrje, ma tutto occupato), 2016
Within the 16 monumental oil paintings, Baselitz has returned to an older portrait of himself and his wife Elke as inspiration. Pictured: installation view
Their bodies are rendered as stark, contorted figures in white or pink, floating in thin mists of paint against dark backgrounds. Pictured: Hotplate fa caldo (Ofenplatte fa caldo), 2015
The inspiration for these paintings came from Otto Dix, the influential portraitist of inter-war Germany; in fact, throughout ‘Wir fahren aus’ there are hints of an expressive, macabre German and Austrian tradition. Pictured: installation view
INFORMATION
’Wir fahren aus (We’re off)’ is on view until 3 July. For more information, visit the White Cube’s website
Photography courtesy the artist and White Cube
ADDRESS
White Cube
144–152 Bermondsey Street
London, SE1 3TQ
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Fluid workspaces: is the era of prescriptive office design over?
We discuss evolving workspaces and track the shape-shifting interiors of the 21st century. If options are what we’re after in office design, it looks like we’ve got them
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This collection of slow furniture is a powerful ode to time
A serene exhibition of David Dolcini's 'Time-made' collection has fast-tracked its place into our hearts and homes
By Ifeoluwa Adedeji Published
-
Is the Pragma P1 the most sustainable watch yet?
Geneva-based brand Pragma combines industrial design with real sustainable credentials
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary art
As Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
By Finn Blythe Published
-
Frieze Sculpture takes over Regent’s Park
Twenty-two international artists turn the English gardens into a dream-like landscape and remind us of our inextricable connection to the natural world
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
Harlem-born artist Tschabalala Self’s colourful ode to the landscape of her childhood
Tschabalala Self’s new show at Finland's Espoo Museum of Modern Art evokes memories of her upbringing, in vibrant multi-dimensional vignettes
By Millen Brown-Ewens Published
-
Wanås Konst sculpture park merges art and nature in Sweden
Wanås Konst’s latest exhibition, 'The Ocean in the Forest', unites land and sea with watery-inspired art in the park’s woodland setting
By Alice Godwin Published
-
Pino Pascali’s brief and brilliant life celebrated at Fondazione Prada
Milan’s Fondazione Prada honours Italian artist Pino Pascali, dedicating four of its expansive main show spaces to an exhibition of his work
By Kasia Maciejowska Published
-
John Cage’s ‘now moments’ inspire Lismore Castle Arts’ group show
Lismore Castle Arts’ ‘Each now, is the time, the space’ takes its title from John Cage, and sees four artists embrace the moment through sculpture and found objects
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
Gerhard Richter unveils new sculpture at Serpentine South
Gerhard Richter revisits themes of pattern and repetition in ‘Strip-Tower’ at London’s Serpentine South
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Peter Blake’s sculptures spark joy at Waddington Custot in London
‘Peter Blake: Sculpture and Other Matters’, at London's Waddington Custot, spans six decades of the artist's career
By Hannah Silver Published