Kind 1989

Gerhard Richter made *Kind* using paint, and perhaps a squeegee. It’s a painting all about process. See how the colors drip and blend, like rain on a window? The surface has a smeared quality, with thin layers of paint pulled downwards, revealing the history of its making. This isn't about hiding the process; it's about making the process visible. There's a sense of letting go, allowing the materials to do their thing. I find it very freeing. The interplay of white, grey, and those fleeting splashes of yellow and pink... each mark seems both intentional and accidental. Look at the top left corner, the way that brown bleeds into the white ground. It’s like a memory fading, or a feeling just out of reach. Kind of like how Richter allows the painting to emerge, rather than dictating its every move. He reminds me of Sigmar Polke, both interested in the accident and the glitch. For both, the real subject of painting is the act of painting itself.