G.A.2 1984

Gerhard Richter made this watercolor, G.A.2, with…well, you know, watercolor. And to me, it feels like a fleeting thought captured on paper. There's a tension here between control and chance, isn't there? You can see it in the way the washes of color bleed into each other, like memories fading at the edges. Then there are these thin, dark lines cutting across the surface, anchoring the composition, but also creating a sense of unease. It’s like the feeling when you think you know what you're doing but your hand betrays you somehow! I'm thinking of Joan Mitchell, how she also used these washes of color to evoke emotion. But where Mitchell is all about raw energy, Richter is more…subtle. It's a painting that rewards slow looking. It leaves space for us to bring our own experiences, to find our own meanings.