Bagdad – P9

Gerhard Richter’s ‘Bagdad’ (2010) began as a psychedelic palette of enamel paints which were
poured onto a flat surface and allowed to interact, overlap and expand. The results are moments like
the seashell‐like swirls in the work’s upper right corner and the lava‐like flows in its bottom left,
constructing one of the most diverse and dynamic works produced through this process.

These swirls and flows were petrified into position through Richter’s application of a sheet of glass
which effectively halted any further movement. He flattened moments of movement with the cold,
stark surface of the glass, complicating the sense of tactility created through the interactions of the
flowing pigments. Richter effectively encased the pigments like a specimen in a museum and
abstracted the composition further by creating a sense of remove.

Richter added another layer to this distance in 2014 through his production of ‘Bagdad (P9)’, a
Diasec‐mounted chromogenic print on aluminium. This superb facsimile simultaneously maintains
the awe‐inspiring movement of ‘Bagdad’ and builds on this original painting. An artwork in its own
right, ‘Bagdad (P9)’ reverses the logic of his photo paintings, inventively abstracting through
converting a painted composition into a photograph.