Townscape PL 1970

This black and white Townscape, PL by Gerhard Richter is like a blurred memory, its topography built up through layers of trial, error, and intuition. I can almost feel Richter’s hand moving across the canvas, wrestling with the subject. What was he thinking, staring down at the city like some kind of benevolent overlord, deciding which strokes would stand for buildings, which for streets? The paint looks thick, as if he’s pushing it around, carving out the shapes with a palette knife. There’s a tension here, between the desire to represent and the pull towards abstraction. It reminds me a little of my own struggles with the canvas. Sometimes, you just have to let go and trust the process, let the paint lead you where it wants to go. Richter does this so well, embracing the ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations, and keeping the conversation going across time.