Gerhard Richter

I was excited to see Richter posted on the Top 100 People in the art world list. I have always been fascinated by not only his work but his process. Richter is painter but he uses photography as the outline for images he paints. He also keeps what he calls "Atlas" which is a extensive collection of images he has taken as inspiration for his paintings. Often the viewer can find a photograph that looks almost exactly like the painting. Very few painters work in this way, it appears Richter does because he paints in the style of photographs, he utilizes depth of field, blur and sharp focus. In addition he paints his images to replicate the way that light reads on film. His paintings become oddly liminal, they use painting to reference photography to reference painting. He also is very transparent about his process he shows not only his paintings but the photographic explorations that lead to them. Both are displayed as art objects, and Richter is very transparent about their connection. On his website when you access one of his paintings the atlas page that holds the images which inspired it pops up, and visa versa. Richter wants the viewer to understand the connection between the two, and his process.

http://www.gerhard-richter.com/art/atlas/detail.php?number=445&paintID=7668