Norbert Bisky Fandom, 2025

Norbert Bisky’s figures—painted in bright and seductive colors yet fragmented, falling, untethered—have always been a symbol of the precarious nature of man in totalitarian societies and under capitalism. The figure pictured in this portrait-like image suggests the heroic pose of socialist realist propaganda, yet his facial expression also suggest uncertainty, even anxiety. Combining these conflicting impressions has long been a characteristic theme of Bisky's representations.

The paintings are of the here and now: They are a wakeup call by articulating a wider sociopolitical mood and the consequences of the state of polycrisis on psyche, society, or city—as exemplified by Berlin where the artist has lived since 1981. The work's title, Fandom, includes a reference to the impact of social media an the ambivalent status of today's heroes: one the one hand, social media can grant an unprecedented degree of publicity, artificially glorifying a real person and "followers" idolizing them; on the other hand, the "stars" have become more vulnerable (also through social media) and their roles more insecure and volatile.