Daniel Richter

Daniel Richter's iconic paintings represent a significant contribution to renewed discussion of painting's importance in 21st century artmaking. This exhibition presented nine boldly painted, unsettling and beautiful readings of the current psychic pulse of the new world disorder. They speak of urban alienation, global conflict and a longing for the re-enchantment of nature. The Berlin/Hamburg artist's visual "voice" is unique because it brings revisionist politics, history painting as realistic painting, and the impact of popular culture in the media (i.e., the incitement of fear, pervasive acts of violence, global threats) into sharp focus amidst zones of deliberate obfuscation. This exhibition set out to introduce a broader North American audience to the many critical dimensions in Richter's work as they relate to contemporary German culture.

Richter (b. 1962) has achieved growing critical attention especially in Europe for his abstract paintings of the last decade, but since 1999 he has received heightened acclaim with the emergence of his large-scale distorted figurative works. This timely stylistic shift to figurative or "realistic" paintings also affords insights into his working process.

Richter uses reference material to inform the interested viewer of his approach to materials, subject matter, and to generally demystify the process behind his paintings. Ephemera in the form of found pictorial materials such as reproductions of artworks, book covers, film stills, newspaper clippings, comic images, record album covers are iconic in their own right as mass circulation references in the public eye. Some are read as regional or national symbols specific to Germany; others are understood by a broader, global audience.

This touring exhibition of eight important recent paintings includes a selection of ephemera, a fully illustrated colour catalogue, and a zine composed of reference material selected by Richter, an interview with the artist by Scott Watson and an essay by Robert Linsley.

Pressetext

Daniel Richter: PINK FLAG - WHITE HORSE