Gerhard Richter

Cage 1

Cage 6

Today was the last day at Tate Modern for the exhibition of Gerhard Richter and I got on my bike to go see the retrospective of this great painter.

The exhibition covered a large selection of his work and showed in that way that retrospectives can give you a glimpse into the development of imagination. This exhibit displayed his early dark and sombre work to the later colorful and atmospheric series Cage 1-6. They are layers of color that are then dragged with a squeegee that resemble nature: water, woods, sky, trees, light reflection. They are beautiful and calm.

Richter survived the bombing of Dresden, whether this effected his imagination, one can only guess, but his early paintings of simple domestic objects and family are all tones and shades of gray with sombre and blurred brushed strokes, like a memory that won't fade, is fading or persisting.

Source: gerhard-richter.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Source: gerhard-richter.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Paint charts from hardware stores and paint companies are endlessly attractive. There is something about color arranged neatly on cards that fascinate us. Richter like so many of us was equally fascinated by these charts. It lead to a series of paintings of color blocks. An exploration.

Colors

The show is finished in London but travels to other cities, if it comes to your city, make the time to see it, his work is reflective, sometimes disturbing, but beautiful with a quiet inner peace.

Georges Bernede Compositions

Material Gestures is the title of this exhibition of George Bernede at Whitford Fine Art.  I have never seen these paintings before so when I received the catalogue I contacted the gallery right away to go see them and learn more of the artist. But first the paintings, I was taken by the "gestes", the expressionism of this work, reminding me of Motherwell or Kline, but different, very different, but then still in the genre of expressionism. 

I like paint and I like to see brush strokes, color thrills me, when I see them all together composed on a canvas I find it satisfying, beautiful. These are beautiful paintings, lyrical and full of movement. 

One is often tempted to look for something figurative in an expressionist painting, sometimes it is there. However, I find to appreciate them one needs to stand back and see the composition, the arrangement of the space and it is then you see the balance, the forms, the rhythm.

A beautiful use of Prussian blue with white, black and a little of ultra marine.

When I was was in the gallery looking at the paintings, I stepped back to admire the composition and then realized Bernede titles each painting "Composition 91" or "Composition 92", good titles, they are well composed. Another aspect of these paintings are their size, all measure about 2' x 3' or 65 cm x 100 cm. A very workable size for interiors, it also allows you to hang them in series of 2's or 3's so you get the idea of a painters imagination.

I learned from Renata, the gallery director, George Bernede has been living and working as artist in the region of Bordeaux since 1946, this is his first exhibit outside France. We are lucky to see these paintings and I recommend this exhibit, it is on at Whitford Fine Art, on Duke Street St James,  until 14th October.