Woods 2005

Editor: Here we have Gerhard Richter's "Woods," from 2005. It appears to be mixed media, including acrylic paint. The streaks and layers create this blurred, almost ghost-like image. It's so tactile, you can almost feel the process of its creation. What's your take on it? Curator: This piece exemplifies Richter’s exploration of process and the very materiality of painting. Look at how the application and subsequent scraping away of the paint become the subject itself. The ‘woods’ become a site where traditional representation collapses under the weight of its own production. Editor: So, the focus isn't necessarily on depicting a landscape, but rather on the act of painting a landscape? Curator: Precisely. Consider the labour involved. Richter isn’t just rendering an image, he’s enacting a cycle of building and destroying, revealing the history of mark-making. The layering, the scraping—it mirrors industrial processes. Think about mass production, consumption, even waste. Editor: It's like the painting documents its own making, becoming a record of its creation, not just a picture. The gesture seems aggressive yet refined. Curator: Absolutely. It's a critical commentary on the industrialization of art and the repetitive nature of labor within consumer culture. Richter challenges our perception of art as a unique, pristine object, foregrounding its creation as a material and social process. The almost violent scraping makes it less precious and more akin to something processed. Editor: I see it differently now, no longer as a fleeting impression, but as a deliberate, constructed commentary. Thank you! Curator: It’s about looking beyond the surface and examining the material conditions of artistic production, something to always consider in this field.