Ohne Titel 1971

Gerhard Richter made this painting, ‘Ohne Titel’, with oil paint and an open invitation to get lost. I see these looping gestures, almost like tangled worms, covering the surface. He’s pushing and pulling the paint, using a dry brush maybe, so you see the tooth of the canvas underneath. These marks aren’t trying to depict anything; they’re just…there, doing their thing. The color palette is muted, mostly grays and greens, but there’s a blush of pink peeking through in places. It’s not about representation; it’s about the materiality of the paint itself. There's one stroke right in the center, thicker and darker than the others, that seems to anchor the whole composition. Richter makes paintings that feel like an ongoing conversation with artists like Joan Mitchell, who also allowed process to lead the way. With Richter, there are no answers, only questions, and that’s what keeps me coming back.