Georg Baselitz: Watercolors: From the Remix Series

by Klaus Kertess

German painter Georg Baselitz emerged in the 1960s and quickly distinguishing himself as one of the preeminent artists of the postwar era. Almost 50 years later, we now know his upside-down imagery so well that it is almost superfluous to mention it; yet its function still resonates, allowing us to see the painting beyond its content, in essence, to free seeing from thinking. In this volume of works on paper from Baselitz's Remix series, the artist trades in his heavily applied oil paints for a suite of vibrant watercolors graced by india ink to revisit the iconic themes and motifs from his work of the 60s, 70s and 80s. In music, to "remix" is to repeat or to copy in some way; here, to remix is to add through imitation or a retelling. The remixed work is purposefully self-reflexive and pushes at the boundaries of Baselitz's practice as a painter.

59 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Klaus Kertess was an American art gallerist, art critic and curator (including of the 1995 Whitney Biennial). He grew up in Westchester County north of New York City, the second of three children. After graduating from Phillips Academy, he studied art history at Yale University and in 1966 founded the Bykert Gallery with his college roommate Jeff Byers. The gallery name was formed from a compound of both of theirs. At Bykert he showed a roster of artists which included; Brice Marden, David Novros, Barry Le Va, Alan Saret, Chuck Close, Bill Bollinger, Dorothea Rockburne, and many others.
Later as an independent curator he oversaw the 1995 edition of the Whitney Biennial. Then in 1998 he curated the exhibition DeKooning: Drawing/Seeing at the Drawing Center also in New York City.
Kertess suffered from Alzheimer's and died on October 8, 2016, after collapsing at his apartment. He was 76. He is survived by his longtime partner, the painter Billy Sullivan.