Gerhard Richter: The Life of Images

 

‘Gerhard Richter: The Life of Images’ features intimate family portraits, large-scale abstracts and tapestries, exquisite landscapes, a new and extensive overview of the artist’s life-long archival project Atlas, and the major four-part abstract series, Birkenau 2014. In addition to key works from the artist’s personal collection, and pre-eminent public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; TATE, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; SFMOMA, San Francisco; and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, it features loans from numerous private collections in Europe and the USA.

The ‘Life of Images’ an extensive exhibition of works by Gerhard Richter, one of the world’s most highly regarded and influential artists, was exclusively at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 14 October 2017 until 4 February 2018.

Gerhard Richter: The Life of Images

Installation views of ‘Gerhard Richter: The Life of Images’, GOMA, Brisbane 2017 / Photographs: N Harth © QAGOMA

The exhibition reveals the scope of Gerhard Richter’s extraordinary output across six decades and captures the breadth and technical virtuosity of a creative practice operating between the twin poles of realism and abstraction. See Richter’s responses to some of modern history’s pivotal events such as World War Two, the horror of the Holocaust and the creation of a divided post-war Germany, all of which coincided with the rapid ascendancy of the mechanically reproduced image. Through the artworks we encounter Richter’s endless variation of technique and inventiveness as a painter.

Gerhard Richter ‘Birkenau (937-4)’

Gerhard Richter, Germany b.1932 / Birkenau (937-4) 2014 / Oil on canvas / 260 x 200cm / Gerhard Richter Archive, Dresden, Germany. Permanent loan from a private collection / © Gerhard Richter 2017

Watch: Gerhard Richter Living Artist Archive

Gerhard Richter: Living Artist Archive. What is it like to work in the archive of one of the world’s most successful and influential living artists?

‘Gerhard Richter: The Life of Images’ / Gallery of Modern Art / 14 October 2017 until 4 February 2018 

Featured image: Gerhard Richter, 2009 / © Gerhard Richter 2017 (23082017)

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