Cage is much more disciplined. He made chance a method and used it in constructive ways; I never did that. Everything here is a little more chaotic. Gerhard Richter More Quotes by Gerhard Richter More Quotes From Gerhard Richter I choose depending on the way I feel; randomly, in other words. When I haven't done anything for a long time, I always start small, on paper. Gerhard Richter technique long art I believe that he knew more what he was doing. I might be absolutely wrong about this, but that was my impression. Gerhard Richter might believe art I never worked at painting as if it were a job; it was always out of interest or for fun, a desire to try something. Gerhard Richter desire fun jobs I began in 1976, with small abstract paintings that allowed me to do what I had never let myself do: put something down at random. And then, of course, I realized that it never can be random. It was all a way of opening a door for me. If I don't know what's coming - that is, if I have no hard-and-fast image, as I have with a photographic original - then arbitrary choice and chance play an important part. Gerhard Richter play doors art This superficial blurring has something to do with the incapacity I have just mentioned. I can make no statement about reality clearer than my own relationship to reality; and this has a great deal to do with imprecision, uncertainty, transience, incompleteness, or whatever. But this doesn't explain the pictures. At best it explains what led to their being painted. Gerhard Richter technique reality art Perhaps the choice is a negative one, in that I was trying to avoid everything that touched on well-known issues - or any issues at all, whether painterly, social or aesthetic. I tried to find nothing too explicit, hence all the banal subjects; and then, again, I tried to avoid letting the banal turn into my issue and my trademark. So it's all evasive action, in a way. Gerhard Richter issues choices art I am thankful that the church exists, thankful that it has done such great things, giving us laws, for instance - 'thou shalt' and 'thou shalt not', and established Goodness and Evil. That's what all religions do, and as soon as we try to replace them, worldly religions like fascism and communism take over. Gerhard Richter evil law giving Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that. Gerhard Richter constructive shows art Well, the beginning is actually quite easy, because I can still be quite free about the way I handle things - colours, shapes. And so a picture emerges that may look quite good for a while, so airy and colourful and new. But that will only last for a day at most, at which point it starts to look cheap and fake. And then the real work begins - changing, eradicating, starting again, and so on, until it's done. Gerhard Richter fake real art I was a student, and as such you generally rely on prior models of how to make art, but these were not satisfying. Then I discovered in photos what had been missing in paintings; namely that they make a terrific variety of statements and have great substance. That is what I wanted to convey to paintings and apply to it. Gerhard Richter technique missing art Family photos, pictures of groups, those are truely wonderful. And they are just as good as the old masters, just as rich and just as beautifully composed (what does that mean anyway). Gerhard Richter groups mean art I don't believe in the reality of painting, so I use different styles like clothes: it's a way to disguise myself. Gerhard Richter clothes believe reality Weeks go by, and I dont paint until finally I cant stand it any longer. I get fed up. I almost dont want to talk about it, because I dont want to become self-conscious about it, but perhaps I create these little crises as a kind of a secret strategy to push myself. Gerhard Richter self secret want Art should be serious, not a joke. I dont like to laugh about art. Gerhard Richter How could one be in this world without feeling dismayed by it? Even if one paints flowers and gingerbread. Gerhard Richter gingerbread flower feelings But I have a problem with the term 'light'. I never in my life knew what to do with that. I know that people have mentioned on some occasions that 'Richter is all about light', and that 'the paintings have a special light', and I never knew what they were talking about. I was never interested in light. Light is there and you turn it on or you turn it off, with sun or without sun. I don't know what the 'problematic of light' is. I take it as a metaphor for a different quality, which is similarly difficult to describe. Good. Gerhard Richter light talking people It's that same quality I've been talking about. It's neither contrived, nor surprising and smart, not baffling, not witty, not interesting, not cynical, it can't be planned and it probably can't even be described. It's just good. Gerhard Richter witty talking art Talk about painting: there's no point. By conveying a thing through the medium of language, you change it. You construct qualities that can be said, and you leave out the ones that can't be said but are always the most important. Gerhard Richter painting quality important Above all, it's never blind chance: it's a chance that is always planned, but also always surprising. And I need it in order to carry on, in order to eradicate my mistakes, to destroy what I've worked out wrong, to introduce something different and disruptive. I'm often astonished to find how much better chance is than I am. Gerhard Richter mistake order art Maybe we didn't even have a chance. The message of American Pop Art was so powerful and so optimistic. But it was also very limited, and that led us to believe that we could somehow distance ourselves from it and communicate a different intention. Gerhard Richter distance powerful art
