My most recent exhibition visit to Gerhard Richter’s, ‘Panorama’ at the Tate Modern, left me both intrigued and inspired to discover more about the artist and his broad collection of works. My time spent observing the artwork featured was both fascinating and absorbing. The gallery rooms displayed a vast variety of medias and styles, which interestingly showed contrasting ideas between Richter’s works whilst also demonstrating his artistic abilities and dynamic use of painting tools and colour, or lack thereof.
Richter’s pictures are neither documentation nor fiction. Nevertheless, they depict human life and, more particularly, one of the most important aspects of our human condition: that we need doubt see properly. (Gerhard Richter | Panorama, A Retrospective). I think that this quote illustrates the underlying theme of the exhibition, portraying the inner core of a human, perhaps not visible from appearance alone. His pictures are also about ongoing new beginnings and this particular exhibition celebrates an artistic production of over half a century.
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| Tiger 1965 |
I noticed that many of the paintings that were displayed featured a trademark blur. This had the effect of making his subjects look almost transparent, as if behind a sheet of glass, distorted. However, I discovered this technique is in fact far more complex than its aesthetic effects. It is a formal means by which generic types are particularized and become meaningful. The blurred black and white paintings included some of his earlier works such as Ferrari 1964, Bombers 1963, Dead [tote] 1963. These paintings extend to Western consumer culture at large, reflecting a particular way of viewing the world as a sort of newcomer. My personal favorite of the black and white series had to be, Tiger 1965. The majestic jungle animal appears merged within its surroundings, the thick shrubbery camouflaging its body. The reason I took such a liking to this piece, was the fact that at first glance it is rather hard to see the tiger, emphasizing its elusive nature. Richter’s signature blur provides an effect of movement, a brisk sprint through the vegetation.
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| Ema (Nude on Staircase) 1966 |
Ema, (Nude on a staircase) 1966, also displayed in the exhibition, shares the same hazy blur however it introduces subtle colour. This particular painting was one of the few pieces that Richter painted from first hand observation. The delicate work depicts his wife walking gracefully down the stairs, a representation of Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Nude Descending a staircase’ 1912. An interesting element to this piece is the use of light within the image. The left hand-side of the subject appears shadowed, more defined, in comparison to the right side which is rather transparent, emphasized by the lines of the staircase visible through his wife’s right arm. The artist’s diverse capabilities are expressed through his depiction of his daughter, ‘Betty’ 1977. She is painted with accuracy and definition; a portrayal that oozes childhood innocence, much different to his rather clouded and obscure works.
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| Betty 1977 |
It was Richter’s later abstract works that really stole the show. The paintings were alive with colour; a canvas filled with excitement and a sort of organized chaos. My favourite of the abstract works was ‘Abstract painting [Abstraktes Bild] 1997 oil on canvas, mainly due to the intense colour scheme, the trapezoid shapes that fly out and the sense of overwhelming power it emits. The most interesting aspect of this piece and others exhibited such as, ‘Abstract painting 1990’ and ‘Forest (4) [Wald (4)] 1990’ is the technique that Richter used in order to create it. The process behind the creation of such wild paintings permanently hides 90% of the image due to subsequent paint coverage. Richter uses a squeegee in order to obtain this smooth, wet look appearance, distributing oil paint along the surface of the canvas. How the paint sets is left, undoubtedly, to chance perhaps his intention to portray the idea of chance, a hidden nature beneath what is visible to the eye.
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| Abstract Painting 1997 |
The variety and array of medias, styles, and subjects, from abstract oil paintings to rather conceptual mirrored sculptures, formed an exhibition that told a story, left the viewer thinking, wanting to know more after leaving. ‘Panorama’ was a rousing, almost overwhelming exhibition that I thoroughly enjoyed. Knowing only a little about Gerhard Richter’s more abstract works, my visit to this exhibition was an inspiring learning experience.
Gerhard Richter “It’s not that I’m always thinking about how to make something timeless, it’s more of a desire to maintain a certain artistic quality that moves us, that goes beyond what we are, and that is, in that sense, timeless.”
References:
Book: (Gerhard Richter | Panorama, A Retrospective)
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