Georg Baselitz experiments with ‘chance and disorder’ in new paintings

CNN — Enigmatic figures appear in a succession of poetic poses across 13 large canvases. Elke Baselitz/Courtesy Gagosian “Unlike many contemporary artists, who are looking for that machine-like finish who are looking to remove the artist’s hand, that’s not what Baselitz is after,” said Nick Simunovic, director of the Gagosian Gallery in Hong Kong. “It was obvious that he was trying to frustrate the viewer’s perception,” Simunovic said of Baselitz’s “radical rejection of painting.” “In a way, it was making the work abstract.” His gestural brushstrokes and expressive color would make him one of the pioneers of Neo-Expressionism in Germany, part of an international movement that took hold in the 1980s and included Baselitz’s compatriot Anslem Kiefer, whose haunting works tackled the country’s Nazi history. He has also been known to revisit earlier works, starting a series in the 2000s called “Remix Paintings” that featured new interpretations of some of his most contentious works, including the previously confiscated “Die große Nacht im Eimer.” Re-opening in a pandemic “Years Later” is the first new exhibition to open at any of the Gagosian galleries worldwide since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on show schedules. “He’s thrilled that an art-loving audience can come into contact with his work again.” “Years Later” is showing at the Gagosian in Hong Kong until August 8.