Georg Baselitz - Years later

This book was published on the occasion of Georg Baselitz: Years later, an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by the artist at Gagosian, Hong Kong. It focuses on a set of thirteen large oil paintings that Baselitz made using a "contact printing" technique. To create each black-and-gold painting he uses a stencil to render inverted figures on blank canvas, painting just the panel's background to generate bold negative silhouettes. Against this ground he presses a black canvas, lifting this second support to produce an image distinguished by a slightly softer look than those made more directly. The hybrid result stresses medium over image, and is distinguished by an element of unpredictability that bespeaks freedom and vitality. The bilingual (English/Chinese) publication features a foreword by Zeng Fanzhi and new essay by Lu Mingjun.