“In Daniel Richter’s work…elements run into nervous, luminous, often neon-coloured linear-graphic approximations which evoke infrared photography and geographical contour lines. The short, violent strokes strengthen the suggestive scenarios and add to the provocative disruptions of situations that are eerie enough in any case.”
P ropulsive and enigmatic, bold in colour and form, Plications of Come (2019) is exemplary of Daniel Richter’s unique large-scale exploration of the human form. Plications of Come vibrates with a palpable energy, with Richter’s signature amorphous figures appearing to both merge and pull away from each other. The vertical lines which slice through the background are an uncommon feature amongst Richter’s works, forming corrugations that perhaps refer to the “plications” of the title. Through a painterly language that deals in both absurdity and surrealism, Richter’s lurid shapes and tumultuous fields of electric colour suffuse the present work with a sense of apocalyptic ambiguity, capturing the fear and anxiety that characterise the contemporary zeitgeist. Captivating in its form and vibrant colour, Plications of Come was prominently featured in Richter’s fourth solo exhibition at Regen Projects, H.P. (JAH ALLO) in Los Angeles (29 June - 17 August 2019).
Embodying the new methodology that Richter adopted in 2015, the present work eschews preconceived narrative structure and instead embraces a distinct impulsiveness, combining abstraction with figuration. Richter describes this departure; "I wanted to get away from a certain kind of narration and from the theatre stage and from the burden of already knowing what I'm about to do", Richter says of the series. "When I started in the 90's, I was mainly interested in the idea of how chaotic or crammed a painting can be: to the point that it collapses. And then I also had an interest in doing something that I would call image related. Image in relation to ideology and the production of ideology and clichés." (Daniel Richter, quoted in “Press Release: Daniel Richter: pUnser die Zukunft”, Grimm Gallery, New York, 2019).
Continuing the lineage of post-war German painting, Berlin-born Richter has become one of the foremost German artists of his generation. In 2023, the artist was honoured with a retrospective-style exhibition at Kunsthalle Tübings en (6 May - 3 October), exploring Richter’s three decade-long interrogation of the human figure and the relationship between man, body and society. Additionally, the artist’s solo exhibition, Stupor, recently concluded at Thaddaeus Ropac (10 October - 7 December 2023), featuring the artist’s trademark biomorphic forms, twisting and bending amongst bold expanses of colour. Today, examples of Richter’s work can be found in prominent institutions around the world, including Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Denver Art Museum; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebæk; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, among others.
「在丹尼爾・里希特的作品中，各種元素總是交錯於緊張又明亮、通常是霓虹色的線性圖案中，令人聯想到紅外線攝影及地理等高線。作品內短促強烈的筆觸加深了對情境的隱喻，並為本已詭異的情況注入深刻的擾亂感。」
丹 尼爾・里希特以風格獨樹一幟，探索人體形態的大型畫作見稱，這幅神秘澎湃、形色大膽的《摺疊的狂喜》（2019）正是代表作。《摺疊的狂喜》散發著洶湧的能量，而里希特招牌的曖昧形體，看似同時在相互滲透抽離。畫中劃過背景的垂直線條，在里希特的作品中並不常見。它們造成纏疊皺褶般形狀，也許呼應著畫作名稱中「Plications」（褶疊）一詞。透過各種荒誕及超現實的作畫語言，里希特筆下駭人的形狀及片片狂亂的電感色彩，為此作注入如末世般的含糊不清，活現出當代以焦慮與恐懼主導的精神氛圍。形色俱備，冶豔迷人的《摺疊的狂喜》曾亮相於里希特第四次個人展覽《H.P.(JAH ALLO)》，由洛杉磯雷根畫廊舉辦，展期為2019年6月29日至8月17日。
此作展現了里希特在2015年採用的全新作畫方法論，他摒棄先入為主的敘事結構，改為擁抱強烈的衝動情緒，成果揉合了抽象與具象的表現形式。對於這個轉變，里希特表示：「我想脫離特定的敘事手法、脫離劇院舞台、脫離已知自己會如何處理的束縛。」對於該系列，里希特說：「在1990年代開始創作時，我著迷於在畫作中營造混亂無章、擁擠不堪之感，直至畫作崩散瓦解。後來，我萌生了創作，我認為與圖像相關的東西——與意識形態，以及意識形態與陳腔濫調產生因由相關的圖像。」（丹尼爾・里希特，摘自〈新聞稿：Daniel Richter: pUnser die Zukunft〉，格林畫廊，紐約，2019年）。
生於柏林的里希特繼承了德國戰後畫作的文脉，為該時代最偉大的德國藝術家之一。為向里希特致敬，圖賓根美術館在2023年5月6日至10月3日為其舉辦回顧展，深入探討藝術家30年來對人體、以至人類、個體與社會之間關係的研究。此外，里希特的個人展《昏迷》於不久前在薩德斯・侯巴克畫廊圓滿結束（2023年10月10日至12月7日），當中不少作品均展示了藝術家標誌性的生物形態，它們於大膽用色中交錯纏綿。如今，里希特的作品可見於世界各地的知名機構中，包括巴黎龐畢度中心、丹佛藝術博物館、丹麥胡姆勒拜客路易斯安那現代藝術博物館、紐約現代藝術博物館，以及阿姆斯特丹荷蘭國立博物館等館藏。