Georg WEISSBACH | GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES

The various dilemmas, that only a highly specialised audience has an interest in highly specialised art, that “good bad taste” does not equal art for everyone and finally, that bad artists are not necessarily good people and vice versa, have been addressed by a number of artists. If one were to translate this into a bespoke TV format for Georg Weißbach, the result might be a talk show, with Gilbert & George, Martin Kippenberger and John Baldessari appearing among the guests. Artists, who, because they cannot or chose not to make further contributions to art history, have declared their own lives art. Who lead a life in the literal sense, free from illusionism and the mythic glorification of fulfilment. Who confront boredom and triviality by enduring and addressing boredom and triviality in their art. This is a practice that, in Baldessari’s words, is about “the elusive quality of trying to get something right. And never getting it quite right.” At the same time, artists cannot ignore all expectations of them. To make art. Art for whom? Gilbert & George put it in a nutshell: “All my life I give you nothing and still you ask for more.” What would art be like, if it gave people whatever they desire. Would they even still want it?Weißbach is more in tune with Kippenberger: “I’d rather let it be, it be quite nice.” In The Joy of Overpainting he tests how far he can approach his audience. How far can art go? How good or bad can it be, so that it still remains acceptable? The burden of these questions is almost too much to bear. (...)

Franciska Zólyom, in: Georg Weißbach – The Joy of Overpainting, 2021