What Is Richter's Transformation?

Chinese name: Daniel Richter Foreign name: Daniel Richter

Daniel Richter

From Mavericks to Political History Painters: Daniel Richter and His Paintings

Ouyang Su

Daniel Richter is one of the representative figures of contemporary German painting on the shelf. He is a contemporary German artist that has attracted much attention from critics and collectors. His works were among the best in world auctions in the late 1990s. . However, in the face of the so-called remarkable achievements, Richter still kept the valuable calmness, and throughout his work, there are always some new changes.

Richter was born in Eutin, a small town in the state of Shihe, northern Germany, around the 1980s. Before he devoted himself to plastic arts, he was a leftist, a follower of friends, and designed advertisements for friends bands. , Posters. From 1991 to 1995 he studied at the Werner Büttner studio in the Hochschule der Bildende Kunst Hamburg, where he remained as an assistant to Albert Oehlen. jobs. These last two are also active figures in the German contemporary art world. From 2004 to 2006 Richter was a professor at the University of the Arts Berlin. He has since resigned dissatisfied with the school's bureaucracy.

In 2001 Richter created an oil painting entitled "Crossing Forest to Unity". As in most of his works, the amplitude is large (252x231 cm, Figure 1). On the right side of the picture, two people who look very anxious are running to the left in the forest. One of them on the right, wearing a bright orange shirt and purple-blue pants, stretches his fingers and follows the one in front of him. One seems to be reluctant to fall behind. The left leg of the previous one was raised back and forth, and his left hand was clenched tightly into a fist, as if he had just escaped from another place and then fled to another place. On the left, there is a man standing in front of a tree. The man dressed in yellow and gold looks to the right, and the other two people behind him hug tightly. And these characters are fused in such an environment-white light-colored flowers and plants before and below the painting. On the right side of the middle of the picture, there is a mesh fence between the people and the tree. A vigilant dog is hidden in the treetop in the center, and a gallows is hanging on the edge of the left canvas.

The thematic elements used by Richter here, such as figures, trees, plants, small animals, fences and gallows, are entangled in a large painting, in a state of mutual movement, especially the central figure is very prominent, and he does not Give the human body obvious facial features, but let these people have mask-like heads and faces, making it difficult to judge their gender and wondering whether they are really real people. Richter's color application has computer pixel effects, the characters are wrapped in dazzling colors, and the face looks like a virtual digital crystal. He expresses the characters through movement and shiny colors, and further contrasts with the quiet forest. Emerged. Richter's emphasis on characters and their environment, as if roles and performances, coexist in a more obvious color contrast. The natural landscapes he represents, such as forests, real living environments, and environments that people are accustomed to, are different, providing an atmosphere for the events he wants to express. Weird characters, ugly faces, colorful costumes, walking in the forest, appearing trembling in the picture, strong and powerful. Dazzling colors make people, objects, and environments more dramatic. There is a story in the painting, that is, it seems to be an expression of objective events that occurred in a certain period. Through exaggeration, strong colors, and the use of high-tech color language, it creates a mysterious and horrifying atmosphere subjectively. harmonious. He applied musical dance, collage and other methods to color expression, trying to "represent beauty through clutter and authenticity through conflict".

If you look at Richter's pictures directly, we can think of the styles of many older German artists, the wildness of Kokoschka, and the splendor and mystery of Emil Nolde. A large area of modeling uses a lot of exaggerated and coherent curves, which makes people imagine the shape of Munch, but there are many differences in careful observation. Tolerance is also a feature of Richter's painting techniques.

Since the mid-1990s, Richter has transformed from original abstract expression to figurative painting. This is not to say that he moved to realistic painting, as we usually have a rough understanding of painting on the shelf. As he said, he turned to character expressions to better get closer to what he felt. These things are his existence as a society, thinking about his time. As early as the 1980s, Richter had dealt with the punk movement, drug and alcohol, and was associated with different subcultures and independent left activities. These experiences obviously influenced his choice of painting subjects and the use of painting language in the future. In the mid-eighties, he switched from satirical realism to abstractism, and he regarded abstract painting as "organized opposition." After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of East and West Germany in the late 1980s, as a West German, Richter began to find a new position. Try figurative painting, using very thin fluid oil paint and spray paint (Figure 2). In 1999, a character's head appeared in his work, and the colors appeared dirty and offensive. Selecting materials to dig contemporary history involves both the terrorist attacks and the challenges after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Like this oil painting, in addition to the characters, he does not hesitate to repeatedly show the grim looking gallows in the picture, reminiscent of the violent conflicts appearing in the tranquil landscape, as if implying to others, to the victims Manipulation of life. As he proposed, the forest is a symbol of this nation and a stage of historical progress, which reminds of major historical events in Germany.

So for whom does Richter paint? What motive is behind the painting? And how does he manage the communication of picture information?

In an interview, he said that he can't just create what he likes. Painting must operate in the contradiction between beauty and division, expressing his argument against "art for art". Marxists say that painting for the market, Freud's heirs believe that creation is to liberate oneself from narcissism, and sociologists say to paint for the happiness of others. Richter said that he didn't know who to paint for. He wanted to create visual communication and connections to make himself more aware of the world.

Most of Richter's material comes from news pictures, such as protests, disasters, civil wars, etc., as well as daily life such as street brawls, etc., as a model, the artistic treatment of the events that have occurred into current understanding. He is not simply recording history, but through his telling, to encourage others to think. He also does not provide a solution, but asks those who are confused by his paintings. In this sense, he is understood as a historical painter, inheriting the characteristics of historical painting, large format, telling events, highlighting characters, etc., but his style is different from earlier generations of historical painter, not only in color language The use of modern technology, and because of his unique era, and what he did in this era, it is impossible in itself with the predecessors. From a man pursuing independence and self-government to being known as a German history painter, he finds it funny. He considers himself not a patriot and Germany's history is unpleasant and unattractive.

Other painters of the 1980s, such as Immendorff, Albert Oehlen, Werner Büttner, Martin Kippenberg, etc. These painters also chose various socio-political events at that time in terms of subject matter, but in form they liked the modern aesthetic expressions that they developed from the 1950s. Richter is different from them. His works are not ridiculous, but he attracts the public with spicy jokes and expresses his attitude. In this sense, he can also be regarded as a political artist.

The oil painting "Revolutionary Pastoral Life" (Paint 3) (378x248cm), created in 2006, is based on revolution and pastoral life. From the picture archives, he selected the famous designs of Lenin's pulpit by El Lisstzkys in 1924 (Figure 4) and Stalinist divers (Figure 5), as photographed by Alexander Rodtschenko. The two are spliced in his pictures, still using grotesque and dazzling colors to express the revolutionary behavior in pursuit of freedom. In the 2001 exhibition, he even showed newspaper photos, funny pictures and magazine covers, and his albums were often arranged in this way to show the source of his ideas. He regards political clichés as the basis of a common argument, dissolves any unity, and strives to reveal contradictions. To this end, all creative methods and painting languages are used: strong colors, thoughtful composition, significant light effects, and easy-to-understand stories. Keep the questioning attitude to the information obtained, make the political history aesthetic, make it enter the public view, and make the sad subject matter into the aesthetic result.

Richter did not explicitly express his opposition to his position as a political painter, but he also said that he did not desire this title. He believed that the classification of works of art was just a common method used by critics. But he said he was not a moral preacher, nor was he a "moral painter." He thinks that he is different from other artists who use politics as the subject matter. He is not interested in describing right and wrong, and he does not judge society and politics based on good, bad, and good. He believes that the feeling of a painting should not be single, but intricate, just like life itself. Spreading truth is not the task of painting. But personally, he is very willing to spread the common knowledge. Of course, he hopes that people will not do what they see in his paintings.

Daniel Richter, Jonatha Messe and Neo Rauch are among the most sought-after German painters of our time. He thought it was all temporary, maybe the day after tomorrow the three of them would be replaced by the other three. Interestingly, German painting carries historical significance. In the form of insanity and ridicule, Jonathan Messer started with dreams and conservative ideas, while Richter started with the waste of negative historical paintings. To show this historicity. In this "troika," Richter considers himself the least painter with a German label. Although he is recognized as a promising German artist, he currently has an average of about 400,000 euros. In an interview, Richter responded unabashedly when asked about the positioning of his work and painting market. It should be a bit higher, because the idea in the artwork should also be paid. The witty is quite unrestrained.

As the price of his works has risen, interest in Richter himself has also increased. In this regard, he believes that some people are not content to talk about the work itself. For 17 years (the unification of East and West Germany), art is not only concerned and used in a small area, so some people need to create the deification of artists. These are the needs of the market to build the artist's own image. Asked if he was interested in some big art auction exhibitions, Richter said he was unwilling to visit those big exhibitions, but he did not doubt the creativity in these exhibitions. Maybe art creation and making expensive clocks and handmade shoes is a reason. There is no collapse in the art market. It will not be hurt by banknotes, beliefs and big social movements. European and American producers who bought and held art in large quantities were not harmed. Behind the market, not only are potential consumers hidden, but also the pursuit of truth.

2007 Free University of Berlin

Zhao Hongli School

Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen: Daniel Richter: Die Frau, Rock'n'Roll, Tod Nein Danke, Köln 2000

Beate Ermacora: Daniel Richter: Billard um Halbzehn, Kiel 2001

Ch. Lübbens, Jahannes Gachnang, Roberto Ohrt und Jan-Hendrik Wentrup (Hrsg.,): Die Peitsche der Erinnerung, Jonathan Meese und Daniel Richter. Hannover 2002

Julian Heyner: Grünspan, Bielefeld 2002

Hatje Cantz: Daniel Richter: Hirn, Ostfildern 2003

Silke Müller: Richters Spekulationen. Art, Das Kunstmagazin, Nr. 11, November, Hamburg 2004, S. 46-57

Corinna Daniels: Neues von Daniel Richter bei Contemporary Fine Arts. Die Welt. 1. Juli 2005

Susanne Titz: Rheinhold III. Peter Doig, Jörg Immendorff, Albert Oehlen, Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter. Anlässlich der Ausstellung im Städtischen Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach 2005