Mirror Painting (Grey, 735-2) 1991

Editor: Here we have Gerhard Richter’s *Mirror Painting (Grey, 735-2)*. It’s a large, grey monochrome that faintly reflects the space around it. I find it so subtle, almost disappearing. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see the act of production laid bare. Richter uses industrial processes to create a hand-painted object resembling a manufactured one. Consider the materiality: glass, pigment, the means of applying that pigment. Is this about rejecting or embracing mass production? Editor: That's interesting. I was just thinking about how it disappears, but you're focusing on how it was made. Curator: Exactly. The blurring of image and reflection raises questions about authenticity and the labor involved in making an object that seems devoid of artistic touch. We're left to contemplate the grey matter, literally and figuratively. Editor: I hadn't thought about the labor aspect before, but now I'm seeing it as a record of the artist's actions. Curator: Precisely. It's less about what it depicts, and more about how its existence challenges the very definition of art in a consumerist society.