The Golden Hands of Georg Baselitz Defy Darkness

Georg Baselitz never surrenders. At 82 years old, he continues trying out new techniques, painting hunched over on the floor. His foremost enemies are cliches. Since he scandalised West Berlin with The Big Night in the Bucket (1963), he has never tired in breaking down confines, challenging convention in a world that, today, is stunted by fear and dulled by cultural poverty. “Provocation is the true marvel of art,” he once said, “I feel a devil moving inside me that I can’t suppress. Provoking for me is a sort of exorcism.” Baselitz provokes with the mind and colour on the canvas, almost an extension of his own body. Such is the case with his “fractured” paintings, with his upside-down paintings and his iconic Heroes, torn survivors of a history of uncertainty. In this new series of works at White Cube’s Mason’s Yard, Baselitz’s focus on hands is notable. Drawings and ink on paper map out the expressions and intricate folds of the artist’s own flesh, never intent on hiding his age, while, on the canvas, the imprints of his golden hands contrast with the dark background, offering something of the abstract.