We are so accustomed to walking in a straight line and seeing objects at the exact angle dictated by gravity that when someone comes along and turns the world upside down, it shatters not just our vision, but all our established perceptions. We are listening to the approaching footsteps of a massive exhibition preparing to open its doors in London this June, ready to disrupt the most uncompromising rules of modern art once again. One of the greatest living legends of contemporary art, Georg Baselitz, is coming to upend the balance of the canvas once more with his new solo exhibition titled “Back Again” at the White Cube Bermondsey.
Born in 1938, the German genius Baselitz changed the direction of art history with his move of turning figures upside down, tearing them away from their habitual narrative contexts to focus on the pure, fierce existence of paint itself. Known for his provocative, fragmented, and raw expressionist style, the artist is making radical returns to the deepest and most intimate themes of his practice in this new selection, following his highly acclaimed 2024 exhibition ‘A Confession of My Sins’ at the very same gallery. Bringing together large-scale canvas works and works on paper, the exhibition greets the viewer with unconventional brilliance.
Luminous Backgrounds and Upended Sacredness
In this new series, Baselitz greets the viewer with a surprising contrast, placing his figures against brilliant gold leaf and sky-blue backgrounds. While the artist’s familiar, battered human and animal forms wander across these luxurious, illuminated, and almost sacred backdrops, an entirely new page opens before us: a brand-new series of paintings inspired by Indian deities. Passing through Baselitz’s upside-down viewfinder, the multi-armed, mysterious sacred figures of Eastern mythology and belief systems establish a hybrid dialogue with the raw and harsh character of Western expressionism.
Another familiar shadow gliding across the canvases is the eagle motif. Reaching back to the rawest roots of his childhood memory and his youth spent in the Saxon countryside, this symbol takes its place in the venue as the proud ruler of the sky—though this time, with the rules of gravity reversed. The artist embeds the wildlife of his native geography onto the canvas as a badge of his own artistic lineage.
Traces of Time: Elke and the Anatomy of Aging
Behind all its provocative posture, “Back Again” also harbors a deeply lyrical and melancholic accounting of aging. The self-portraits in the exhibition, along with portraits of Elke—the artist’s life partner of half a century and lifelong muse—dissect the relentless pressure of time on the biological body. The fragilization of bodies, the thinning of skin, and the inevitable transformation brought by aging confront the thick, layered, and unborrowable texture of the paint. With these aging bodies that he turns upside down, Baselitz subtly mocks the linear flow of time.
The current summer of 2026 is playing host to a literal global “Baselitz Season.” Concurrently with this grand gathering in London, the exhibitions ‘AVANTI!’ at the Museo Novecento in Florence, ‘BASELITZ JETZT’ and ‘BASELITZ MANIFESTOS’ in Salzburg, and ‘Eroi d’Oro’ opening at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice prove that this tireless artist is staging a global display of strength. Set to run from June 10 to August 30, 2026, at White Cube Bermondsey with completely free admission, this exhibition is a striking sanctuary for those tired of seeing the world in a flat and comfortable way.
Exhibition Details:
- Artist: Georg Baselitz
- Exhibition Title: Back Again
- Venue: White Cube Bermondsey, London
- Exhibition Dates: June 10 – August 30, 2026
- Admission: Free
- Key Themes: Inverted figures, Eastern iconography, aging and the body, childhood motifs, and expressionist textures.
