Flow – P6

Gerhard Richter’s innovative approach to colour and technology comes to life in ‘Flow (P6)’ (2014), a
facsimile print produced after his painting ‘Flow’ (2013). The work is composed of vivid and dynamic
enamel paints in contrasting shades of green, yellow, white, red, pink and black. Poured onto the
surface and encouraged to autonomously flow and mix, their movements are arrested through Richter’s
application of a glass panel.

While the interactions of enamel paints suggest unrestrained motions and complex textures, the glass
halts these chromatic exchanges, magnifying the paints’ materiality and eliminating their tactility. This
material negates the tangible effects produced on the lower band of the painting, in which smooth black
and green paints mix to create a sea of ripples and flattens both colour and forms. Blurring the
boundaries between gesture and chance, the smooth surface of this painting creates an expressive yet
impenetrable composition.

Richter’s ‘Flow (P6)’ skilfully imitates the sensibility of its original, being reproduced as a Diasc‐mounted
chromogenic print on aluminium. It is also an artwork in its own right, reversing the logic of his
acclaimed photo paintings. In translating an abstract painting into a print, Richter pushed forward his
investigation into new languages of abstraction.