Lonely Old Slogans brings together paintings by Daniel Richter from the 1990s through to 2015. Throughout his career, a key preoccupation for Richter is how painting can respond to the social and political reality of the time. This has led to radical formal and aesthetic shifts across his work, from dense, hyper-saturated abstract compositions to narrative figuration and back again. The diverse styles and points of reference in his work are celebrated in his first UK exhibition at Camden Arts Centre. We look here at five key works from the exhibition.
- Europa — immer Ärger mit dem Sogenannten (Europe — Always in Trouble with the So-called), 1999
Daniel Richter, Europa — immer Ärger mit dem Sogenannten (Europe — Always in Trouble with the So-called), 1999. Oil, lacquer on canvas, 220 x 180 cm. Courtesy of the Federal Republic of Germany — Collection of Contemporary Art
In the late 1980s Richter was designing posters and record sleeves for punk bands, but in 1992, in the upheaval following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, he switched to fine art, undertaking four years of studies in Hamburg. He soon swapped the left-wing punk scene for the solitude of the studio, and began creating complex abstract compositions comprised of chaotic forms and colours approaching the psychedelic. Richter’s paintings from the late 1990s such as Europa test how much a painting can hold: how much he can stretch form, colour and composition.