NEW SPIRIT IN PAINTING, A: SIX PAINTERS OF THE 1980s (TV)
Summary
Narrated by Donald Kuspit, this documentary focuses on six contemporary artists whose allegorical or expressionist work of the early 1980s illustrates the emergence of a new creative energy and intellectual depth. First, artist Markus Lupertz speaks of the ways in which his paintings differ from the works of past expressionist painters. Kuspit takes note of some of the people and movements that influenced Lupertz's style, including Picasso, Surrealism, and American abstract painters. Lupertz discusses his personal artistic language through the use of symbols such as the depiction of World War II German helmets and general references to German history. Kuspit notes that for Lupertz, among other things, "art is an existential response to social experience." Next, the program visits the New York studio of David Salle, who talks of the themes inherent in his work, including the depiction of women -- which, used as a metaphor for art, explores the many forms of eroticism through the voyeuristic-like detachment of the painter himself. Next Sandro Chia, another New York artist, discusses the idea of creating a "sphere of influence" with his painting. Kuspit suggests that Chia uses "undisguised poetic allegories through mythological themes to present youth to experience." Kuspit also mentions the themes of sex and violence inherent in Chia's work and notes that the artists he discusses are "recharging new forms with powerful content." Julian Schnabel is one such artist; Kuspit suggests that, through his monumentally scaled plate paintings, Schnabel investigates and re-evaluates the idea of the heroic. Schnabel's work incorporates a variety of materials, which range from velvet to crockery. Artist Francesco Clemente, who divides his time between India and New York City, shares the ways in which these two different locations influence his ideas and work, both stylistically and through content. Clemente's paintings are described as exploring the opposite extremes of the human condition through the use of ideograms. Next, the program visits artist Georg Baselitz's German castle, where Henry Geldzahler speaks with the artist for Interview magazine. Geldzahler asks whether there is any meaning to be found in Baselitz's choice of color. Baselitz replies that he tries to avoid any implied associations within his work. In support of the artist's position, Kuspit notes that the figures/subjects in Baselitz's works are depicted upside down; he tries to liberate his painting from traditional meanings associated with figures positioned right-side up. Kuspit argues that expressive meaning can still be found in the inverted figures, who represent an upside-down, chaotic world. Kuspit concludes by noting that all six of these artists' works are expressive and address the artists' relationship to life; he suggests that the challenge the artists face is not the creation of the new, but the creation of expressive works with new ideas within the artistic traditions of the last 100 years.
The acquisition and cataloging of this program were made possible by Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, 2002.
Details
- NETWORK: WDR (West Germany)
- DATE: 1984
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:20738
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Art, Modern; International Collection - Germany; Painting
- SERIES RUN: WDR (West Germany) - TV, 1984
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- von Bonin, Wibke … Executive Producer
- Michael Blackwood … Producer, Director
- David Schmerler … Associate Producer
- Mead Hunt … Photography by
- Bodo Kessler … Photography by
- von Zahn, Virginia … Edited by
- Peter Geismar … Sound Recorded by
- Klaus-Peter Kaiser … Sound Recorded by
- Donald Kuspit … Writer
- Donald Kuspit … Narrator
- Georg Baselitz
- Sandro Chia
- Francesco Clemente
- Henry Geldzahler
- Markus Lupertz
- Pablo Picasso
- David Salle
- Julian Schnabel