Flow – P4-P7

P4
In his celebrated ‘Flow’ series from 2013, Gerhard Richter lent artistic autonomy to his paints. On a flat surface he poured vibrant enamel paints and allowed the pigments to mix, effectively creating unrestrained compositions. Once the paints achieved the desired effect, Richter placed a glass sheet over them, freezing these interactions in a moment in time. The facsimile ‘Flow (P4)’ (2014) captures one of the most captivating paintings from the series. Vast fields of green, black and yellow enamel freely stream across the canvas, somewhat imitating powerful water currents in their rippling pictorial effects. The lower section of the work is particularly evocative, the green and black paints blending in a way that resembles sea foam. Yet, this figuration remains entirely abstract, capturing the tension between the paints’ complex textures and the smooth surface of glass, which turns them into distant, flattened shapes fixed in motion. These painted effects are gracefully captured in this Diasc‐mounted chromogenic print on aluminium which brilliantly imitates the harsh flattening effects of the original painting behind glass. ‘Flow (P4)’ also cleverly reverses the logic of Richter’s photo paintings to investigate new methods of abstraction, effectively rendering it a productive artwork in its own right.

P5
‘Flow (P5)’ (2014) is an entrancing printed facsimile after one of Gerhard Richter’s ‘Flow’ series (2013) paintings. Produced through his intriguing process of allowing poured enamel paints to move and naturally interact, the painting is defined by a vivid sea of yellow enamel thinly streaked with browns, greens and purples, which are complimented by the above fields of deep blue. These merging or starkly contrasting colours are covered with clear glass which interrupts the fluid movement of the paints and flattens their painterly qualities into a seemingly objective configuration. The work makes representational suggestions, such as fields of beach or desert‐like yellow and blue strokes recollective of the sea or sky, but nonetheless remains abstract and impenetrable. By using glass Richter denies the gestural process required to produce these works. Instead, shifting, spontaneous images become seemingly remote and inaccessible, an effect maintained in its facsimile. Printed as a Diasc‐mounted chromogenic print on aluminium, ‘Flow (P5)’ maintains the original’s integrity and allusion of intangibility. It is not only a superb facsimile but also an artwork in its own right. Reversing the logic of Richter’s acclaimed photo paintings, ‘Flow (P5)’ continues the artist’s perennial search for new languages of abstraction.

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.

P7
A seemingly infinite variation of vivid colours interacts and mixes in Gerhard Richter’s ‘Flow (P7)’ (2014), a facsimile after his painting ‘Flow’ (2013). The original work is part of an eponymous series in which Richter creatively experimented with the expressive potentials of chance and materiality. By pouring and letting trickle variously coloured enamel paints on a surface, Richter achieved entirely abstract, unrestrained figurations. Once satisfied with the swirls and textures, Richter covered his painting with glass, arresting their interaction in a precise moment in time and turning the tactile quality of the enamel paints into unreachable, distant visions. In this painting, vast fields of green merge with yellow paint, creating curved forms, reminiscent of sea foam or organic matter. Insisting on the abstract logic of this work, however, Richter employed glass to emphasise the complex dynamic between the painting’s materiality
and the glass’ smoothness. This duality is captured in ‘Flow (P7)’, a Diasc‐mounted chromogenic print on aluminium which maintains the integrity of the painted textures and hardened surfaces. The facsimile is also an impressive continuation of Richter’s perennial investigations into new forms of abstraction; it is an independent artwork that cleverly abstracts through reversing the logic of his photo paintings.