Ifrit (P8)

Whilst other prints in Richter’s Abstract collection make tangible and visual reference to his innovative use of large, home-made ‘squeegees’ as a means to apply paint to a canvas surface, Ifrit (P8) testifies to the artist’s use, from 2010, of a new medium: lacquer. Resembling the dynamic and alchemical effects produced by marbling during the 19th century, this work sees Richter engage, once again, with non-representation and abstraction. Quite unlike works inspired by Richter’s Atlas - an enormous compilation of image-based materials compiled over the course of the artist’s long and epoch-defining career - Ifrit (P8) takes a deep stare into the creative possibilities afforded by chance, error, and a loose hand.

Deviating from his photographic, historically referential works, which include the iconic images Onkel Rudi (1965) and September (2005), Richter makes a roundabout return to his time at art school during the 1950s and 60s. At the Dresden Academy - an institution then under the control of East Germany’s ruling SED party and firmly within the Soviet sphere of influence - Richter was restricted to reproducing ‘socialist realist’ styles, and large-scale political murals. This experience - coupled with a visit to the 1959 Documenta exhibition, where Richter was introduced to ground-breaking Western art, and the likes of Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso - had a lasting effect. Constantly calling for the ‘death’ of traditional painting, Richter has continued to challenge artistic norms and boundaries.