Flow – 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 Diasec‐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.