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Me waiting in line for the exhibition.

I went to see Gerhard Richter‘s widely publicized Panorama exhibition at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin a few weeks back. I actually saw it on opening day which was not necessarily an action of choice. I am actually against going on opening days of anything just to say that you waited in line for a few hours and were one of the first to see something the people usually remotely have any understanding of. This was the day that the exhibition opened and I was moving to Frankfurt the next day, thus I probably would not have had a chance to visit afterwards and I would not be able to forgive myself if I did actually miss it. 

My readers probably know by now that Richter is one of my favorite artists so how was the exhibition?

Gerhard Richter - points

A disappointment I must admit. The art was just as amazing as it always is but the concept of the exhibition actually detracted from the valor of the art. It seems as if the paintings were just slapped on the walls without any necessary progression nor more importantly a reason to it. My favorite canvases are the big abstract paintings that I have discussed in my very first blog entry. They were placed at the very entrance hall of the exhibition which is the part most people miss. How it came to be that they were hung there I do not even want to know.

The space did not create an element of privacy for the visitor to be able to take in individual or even small sets of paintings. The artworks were hung in one big space more or less, what to me was one of the biggest no no’s one can do.

Neue Nationalgalerie - Panorama

Unfortunately the exhibition was organized in such a layout that left me with the impression that the people were supposed to stare at these amazing pieces of art whose biggest attribute is their ability to fetch millions of dollars at auctions. I have nothing against art being worth large sums but unfortunately I find that is then often a major reason for which people are drawn to it.

Needless to say the artwork is incredible. Once I looked at this big open space I had difficulty grasping that such a large plethora of art styles has all been explored by one man. The colors, emotions, and techniques are all so different that I believe Gerhard Richter truly has earned the praise and accolades that he has been receiving.

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