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In this large canvas, with a grid-like background, art historical depictions are mixed with contemporary imagery from magazines. The simian-painter, Immendorff’s alter-ego, dispenses images to the world in handfuls. Scenes of torture and conflict, as well as of wars by Goya, are all images of violence and are all to be received, like a postapocalyptic rain of ashes, by a visibly frightened group of apes with human resemblance. In the background, behind the main scene, is a group of sculptures in which Laocoön, “the one who understands the people”, dies attacked by serpents. The painter makes use of art history to express his perturbation.
Jörg Immendorff (1945-2007)
Born in 1945 in Bleckede, on the Elbe, Jörg Immendorff joined the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts in 1963 and Joseph Beuys’ studio the following year. He is convinced that art is nothing if it is cut off from political, social and historical reality. He is one of the most fascinating artists on the German and international scene of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His work, recognized around the world, has often been classified by art critics as neo-expressionist or linked to a movement called “New Fauves” with artists such as Baselitz, Lüpertz, Penck…
