Installation view, Gerhard Richter, PAMUL, 2023
In advance of Gerhard Richter’s upcoming solo exhibition at David Zwirner London in January 2024, the gallery is pleased to present a new edition from the artist, published by David Zwirner.
“A work of art is itself an object, first of all, and so manipulation is unavoidable: it’s a prerequisite.”
—Gerhard Richter, 1972
To create PAMUL, the artist began with a drawing from April 2023 and subjected it to a series of notable alterations during the printing process, resulting in a new composition that expresses a subtle but intentional visual evolution from the drawing. These changes include enlarging the overall image size, augmenting the drawing with additional markings, removing the signature and date from the recto, and adding a light cream border around the entire image.
Installation view, Gerhard Richter, PAMUL, 2023
Translating images from one medium to another and back again is one of Richter’s continued artistic pursuits. From his early oil paintings of photographic portraits to the digital manipulation of his hand-executed drawings, Richter continually shifts between different modes of reality and perception.
Installation view, Gerhard Richter’s mood (2022), on view in Passages – Landscape, Figure and Abstraction, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland, 2022. Photo by Mark Niedermann
Installation view, Gerhard Richter’s mood (2022), on view in Passages – Landscape, Figure and Abstraction, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland, 2022. Photo by Mark Niedermann
Installation view, Gerhard Richter, David Zwirner, New York, 2023
Richter’s interest in blurring the distinctions between image and reproduction is also evidenced in his decisions to install reproductions alongside or in place of the works they are based upon. The artist presented a new group of inkjet prints, mood (2022), alongside the related series of ink drawings at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Switzerland, in 2022.
By installing prints adjacent to their ink counterparts, Richter visually investigates the possibilities and limits of image reproduction, dissemination, and interpretation—themes carried forth in the artist’s newest edition.
Gerhard Richter, PAMUL, 2023 (detail)
“Richter has been fascinated by the possibilities opened up by reproduction ever since he first engaged with the medium of photography.… for him, the perfect, unassailable image counts for more than the quasi-sacrosanct hand-painted original.”
—Dieter Schwarz, curator
Published for Richter’s first exhibition with David Zwirner, this highly anticipated catalogue presents the artist’s last paintings along with his recent explorations in drawing, print, and sculpture.
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