Gerhard Richter: Modern Times
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, mima, is a new institution dedicated to modern art, particularly drawing and ceramics. At the helm of the gallery are curators, Gavin Delahuntey and James Beighton. For mima, their current exhibition Gerhard Richter: Modern Times is a pivotal show, confirming their status as a satellite gallery to the London institutions.
Mima’s space lends itself to experimentation and play, with none of the restraint faced by larger institutions or private galleries. Gerhard Richter: Modern Times is made up of four rooms, each expounding a different aspect to Richter’s work.
The first room houses Richter’s Infinity Paintings. These large scale, reflective paintings occupy two corners of the room with a larger grey pane off centre but confronting the viewer as they walk into the space. The four smaller pieces are hung tightly in pairs in two corners of the gallery, according to the artist’s agenda. They create a cross interacting with each other, at once dividing the room and reflecting it. The space is serene, undergoing a strange contraction and expansion under jurisdiction of these five panels. Through reflections the viewer interacts with these seemingly autonomous works and is integrated within them. The power of the room is undeniable. It both sets up Richter as modernist painter and suggests the hidden theme of the exhibition – infinity.
The second room exhibits two sculptures made by Richter of himself and his artist friend Blinky Palermo. The room reconstructs their original 1971 display. The two objects, casts of the artists’ faces mounted onto pillars and painted ‘Richter grey’ gaze at each other in an unbroken stare. They evoke an eerie feeling of infinite, undisturbed psychic connection. The works have not been seen like this since that date. It is this lineage which evokes a feeling of greatness and personal presence.
The third room depicts a number of Richter’s works from different stages of his career. It emphasizes the masterly quality of his technique and almost forms a retrospective of his work.
From the grandiose statements of the first three rooms, the gigantic panes, the unseeing stares, the swathes of paint, we are introduced to Richter’s drawings in the final room. It is the best use of anti-climax. These abstract and figurative works are experimental, jovial and dark but most of all private. This is mima’s room. Firstly in its focus on drawing, but also in its restraint. This room stands to the side of those large scale paintings and is evocative in a different and exciting way.
Gerhard Richter: Modern Times is showing at mima until 15th November.
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