Daniel Richter: Chromos Goo Bugly
Forward by Beate Ermacora, essays by Beate Ermacora and Cord Riechelmann.
A cruel, zombiistic terrifying artist, interacts with paint, goo and deceitful flattery – so the heading to the first exhibition by Daniel Richter in Austria at Galerie im Taxispalais in Innsbruck. Since 2006, the artist has been Professor at the Studio of Expanded Pictorial Space at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Daniel Richter, one of Germany's most important contemporary artists, in his work not only reflects the fundamental transformation that the medium painting has gone through in recent years, he also captivates with his sensual as well as intellectually alluding statements and analyses of art and society.
The volume accompanying this small retrospective presents Daniel Richter’s creative production since the turn of the millennium, with major works and, among the 23 selected images, several new works that are reproduced here for the first time. Based on key milestones in his artistic development, the book covers Richter’s work from his first paintings to the present, and thus illustrates his thematic and stylistic development.
In 2000, he caused a stir with his figurative paintings, alluding to sociopolitical realities. The mostly large-scale works refer not only to media images and set pieces from popular culture, but reinterpret art historical motifs, and exact a completely unique reading. His recent works (since 2012) mark a further painterly and contextual turning point. Whilst he formerly often used dramatic crowd scenes to illustrate his concern with social structures, he has since 2012 focused on the representation of individual characters and their psychological state. Thus, an atmosphere of fear and discomfort has also found its way into his work.
Published by Galerie im Taxispalais and Snoeck