Born in 1945, Immendorff was of the generation that experienced post-war disillusionment that politicized every waking moment. As a student in the 1960s, he faced the task of examining Germany's tragic history and its fraught relationship with modernity. This forced him to devise a balancing act between eras.Jrg Immendorff's large canvases are often fraught with the imagery of a literal theatre of decadence. His stage-set compositions allude to the illusionary aspects of art, presenting a script of personal mythology that is often poignant, humorous, scathing and prophetic.Myth-making is at the core of Jorg Immendorff's work. Political iconography, such as the German eagle, Soviet sickle and Socialist Worker's fist, mix quite literally with his ever expanding cast of characters, including both politicians and artist friends. At the heart is a rewriting of history - both political and artistic - where personal positioning and moral reconciliation are at the forefront. Jorg Immendorff's most famous accomplishment is his Caf Deutschland series, begun in 1977 and continued through the 1980's. His imaginary nightclub sits on the east-west border, an independent territory where the burlesque theatre of cold-war politics, national identity, and battle of artistic legacy is played out night after night in all its subterfuge and drama. This series of work takes its initial architecture from Renato Guttoso's Caf Greco, but in painting after painting the 'camera angle' shifts, the furniture is rearranged, and the action is captured in contorted perspective of the not-so-innocent bystander.In this Caf from 1984, Jorg Immendorff has already predicted German reunification. To the left of the canvas the Brandenburg Gate, with its four apocalyptic horses, tumbles through the bar taking with it the sheet of ice blanketing the country. To the right, an impotent, long-entombed Hitler looks to the future from a boozy perspective, while being carried off by venomous talons. As usual, the artist himself watches the whole scene unfold from his comfortable ringside table. Jorg Immendorff presents a canvas divided in three parts: labour, knowledge and possibility. His central figure, a goddess-like woman embodying an owl of wisdom, is the icon nurture and virtue, radiant against the bleak background of storm clouds and darkness. Through her flows a stream of fertility and rebirth in the form of labia-like fruits, proffered from the toil of the rural worker.In the foreground, Jorg Immendorff depicts the present as an arid and cracked soil. His egg - reminiscent of the globe - offers hope for the future, weighting down a manuscript stating: 'Society with a lack: industry, pride, honesty, respect before Art.'
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