Richter is one of those artists whose work I've discovered - and, over time, come to like a lot - pretty much entirely through art gallery happenstance, starting with a chance encounter at the Albertina in Vienna several years ago, then a couple of years later being struck by a painting called "Meadowland" at a show in Perth built on MoMA pieces, and then last year's coming across a version of his luminous "Betty" (in the red gown) at Benesse House in Naoshima).
This exhibition drew the threads together for me, highlighting both the various modes that he works in - notably the blurry, often photograph-derived representational paintings, the over-painted photos, and the generally large format abstract pieces, and the concerns that tie them all together (including the relationships between painting, photography, paint, images, representation and perception). "Meadowland" was here, as was what I think was another print of the same "Betty" piece (in characteristic fashion, a print of a painting that instead had been based on a photograph); and I really noticed how lively the large abstracts - mostly done by squeegee - are up close. Also worthwhile were the many boards of small photographs collected as 'Atlas', which gave a real insight into Richter's work and process. All up, a terrific exhibition.
I wasn't so much in the mood for Kusama, so it was a somewhat dutiful wander through the selection on offer here, which nonetheless couldn't help but impress just a little bit, even if for no other reason than her sheer vigour and prolificness.
(w/ trang)
This exhibition drew the threads together for me, highlighting both the various modes that he works in - notably the blurry, often photograph-derived representational paintings, the over-painted photos, and the generally large format abstract pieces, and the concerns that tie them all together (including the relationships between painting, photography, paint, images, representation and perception). "Meadowland" was here, as was what I think was another print of the same "Betty" piece (in characteristic fashion, a print of a painting that instead had been based on a photograph); and I really noticed how lively the large abstracts - mostly done by squeegee - are up close. Also worthwhile were the many boards of small photographs collected as 'Atlas', which gave a real insight into Richter's work and process. All up, a terrific exhibition.
I wasn't so much in the mood for Kusama, so it was a somewhat dutiful wander through the selection on offer here, which nonetheless couldn't help but impress just a little bit, even if for no other reason than her sheer vigour and prolificness.
(w/ trang)
