Cage Grid I Single Part C

Together with its close cousins in the Cage f.ff series, including Cage f.ff II, Cage f.ff III, and Cage f.ff IV, this print showcases a remarkable example of Richter’s unique and unmistakable treatment of both colour and abstraction - two themes with which he has experimented throughout his lengthy career as a visual and conceptual artist. Product of Richter’s extended use of large, home-made ‘squeegees’ - long, wood-mounted sections of rigid plastic - the work speaks to the artist’s dynamism, as well as his nature as a chiefly kinetic painter. As in many of his other painterly works, such as Abstraktes Bild (P1) (1990), Richter creates this vibrant image by daubing his squeegees with varying hues of ‘classic’ paints. In dragging these plank-like appendages across the canvas surface, Richter adds, embellishes, and uncovers greys, reds, blues, and yellows to dramatic effect.

Despite the primacy of its visuality, this piece is sure to reference the musical. According to Swiss curator and critic Hans Ulbrich Obrist, it is so-named because around the time of its production, Richter had been listening to the music of American composer and conceptual artist John Cage. Famed for his highly experimental use of atonality, Cage’s influence on Richter is indisputable; leaving the creative process open to accident, Cage Grid I Single Part C is an ode to serendipity and the unforeseen.