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Writer's pictureMonica Blignaut
Jan 31, 20212 min read

Jörg Immendorf

Artist 287

Jörg Immendorf

Documentation

Painting



Jörg Immendorff (born 1945 - 2007) was a German Neo-Expressionist artist known for his figurative style and use of symbolic imagery. He was a painter, sculptor, stage designer and art professor. He was a member of the art movement Neue Wilde.


His work is known for dense, bizarre scenes laden with a wide range of symbolic influences pulled from art history, mythology, and German history. He often combined autobiography with social and political commentary, often including people from his life within his painted scenes.



Born at the end of the Second World War, Immendorff’s work reflects the political and psychological turmoil imbedded in postwar German life, in equal parts showcasing comedy and tragedy.


He depicts characters from both his personal life and greater culture in chaotic, large-scale oil paintings that borrow staging and composition from theater. His backgrounds often descend into darkness, like in the “Café Deutschland” series the bar’s interior functions as a stage set, and the cast of characters represents an allegory of the ideological clash between the East and West.



“Something is beautiful if it is honest,” Immendorff had said. “If you do an engaged piece of work, which is sincere, the concept of beauty meets the concept of truth.”


Beauty is so subjective I find Immendorff’s work makes me think of comics in his style and also in how he uses his imagery to critique society and show the pain of his surroundings.





I personally don’t find them beautiful but more of artifacts of history. Important and intriguing as pain is so important in documentation. Art creates a space where we can capture the feeling of a time.


And that is priceless






Sources Consulted

http://www.artnet.com/artists/j%C3%B6rg-immendorff/

https://www.artsy.net/artist/jorg-immendorff

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