11.4.88 1988

Curator: Richter's "11.4.88," created in 1988 using watercolor, presents such a unique lens through which we might view landscape painting. What's your initial impression? Editor: It feels like looking through a heatwave. All hazy distortions and flickering colors. I'm struck by this kind of ephemeral, almost unstable feeling. Is that intended? Curator: Instability is a fitting descriptor. Richter often challenged traditional notions of representation, and here, the dissolving forms perhaps reflect the fluidity of memory, particularly within a late 20th century German context. The year 1988, nearing the fall of the Berlin Wall, certainly resonates. Editor: So the very form echoes historical instability. I’m also curious about the predominance of orange and yellow... These feel like primal colors—the sun, fire. Could these reference a deeper symbolic language? Curator: The deliberate use of a seemingly optimistic palette to hint at societal unease? It speaks to Richter's complicated approach to history and politics. Editor: There’s this liminal state too; they are dissolving and merging and suggest cycles of destruction and renewal. It reads less as pure landscape and more a commentary on time. Curator: That ties into broader philosophical inquiries prominent during that period; about temporality, about how we construct history and understand ourselves within its flow. Richter, I think, positions painting itself as an act of questioning these very foundations. Editor: So, beyond pure aesthetic appeal, “11.4.88” functions as a meditation, challenging our perceptions of not just art but historical context. Curator: Precisely. Richter uses the apparent ease of watercolor to delve into complexity, pushing us to reconsider simplistic interpretations of the past and, really, our place within it. Editor: Seeing those primal colours melting through our memories is powerful; thanks to Richter's abstraction, it transcends traditional readings. Curator: A fitting and crucial interrogation, especially considering our present moment.