Nicola Graef’s documentary film ... is a decidedly moving image of an unbroken will to art and life.
22.05.2008
Der Tagesspiegel
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Even earlier, he was probably never a pleasant teacher – and little changed in this regard. Filled with trepidation, an aspiring young artist spreads his portfolio out before the master, hoping to be accepted as a student, only to be dismissed by Immendorff brusquely. Nor do the assistants responsible for executing his pictures in the studio according to his instructions have an easy time of it. The master broadcasts his commands harshly, and becomes impatient when he is not understood. Faced with his immense production of images, many have asked how Jörg Immendorff - who suffered from an untreatable crippling neuropathy ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) - was able to continue working at all. Nicola Graef’s documentary film, created during the two years preceding Immendorff’s death in May of 2007, provides the answer. Precisely because the artist was such an uncompromising grouch, it amounts to a decidedly moving portrait of an unbroken will to art and to life. A moving documentary portrait. Christina Tilmann
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