Abstract Picture 1990 Oil on Aluminum Gerhard Richter
for Gerhard Richter
everything is superimposed
on aluminum’s slick surface
an archeology of abstraction
your staggering oeuvre of
somatic/chromatic interactions
explicating tragic materiality
or sublime interiority
we can’t seem to decide
maybe neither can you
special effects concoctions,
of layered and lifted pigment
[art undergirded by ambiguity]
nonrepresentational artifacts
yet you speak of angels and ideas
of painting what cannot be seen
patterns, enigmatic marks,
squeegee scrape obliterations,
multifarious and complex
accidental processes
inconsistent/inconsequential views
untangle an idea of art
incoherent, absurd, disorienting
your ontological exploration
like the image in a mirror
is subtly duplicitous
exposing the artifice
to reveal the truth
Abstract Picture 1997 Oil on Aluminum Gerhard Richter
as if in tracing
a nonexistent line
you traverse past
an abyssal reflection
at the storied end
of your inner night
where is there to go
but onward?
perhaps painting has never
painted anything but itself –
what art is powerless to do
chance may intervene to manifest
is the image in the mirror you
or what you imagine about yourself?
Abstract Picture 1997 Oil on Aluminum Gerhard Richter
Linked to dVerse Poets Pub, hosted by Joe Hesch http://dversepoets.com/2012/10/09/open-link-night-65/
Chromapoetica 
This is really thought-provoking. Great close, too.
Always music to my ears, thank you.
perhaps painting has never painted anything but itself. …i love this line. it does much to capture and reiterate your lovely layered reflections and refractions “at the storied end/ of your inner night” really grabbed me. fantastic.
Yes, it’s an iteration that shows up in art criticism and I thought it helped with explaining Richter’s ontological exploration of painting. He’s an artist I’ve long admired so I’m happy some of this piqued your interest.
Your words are better than his brilliant paintings, Anna.
Perhaps painting has never painted anything but itself, and what I imagine of myself in art — those smooth love stones are in my pocket to carry on my pre-bedtime walk under these glorious stars. Thank you dear lady of the constellations of whimsy and wonder.
xoxo
Jannie you are bright star, thank you for the beautiful gift of joy. xoxo
nonrepresentational artifacts
yet you speak of angels and ideas
of painting what cannot be seen
patterns, enigmatic marks,
squeegee scrape obliterations,
multifarious and complex
accidental processes
inconsistent/inconsequential views
untangle an idea of art
i like this poem within a poem….all art even abstract has meaning if you really look at what went into it….this is a really cool look at it as well…very cool piece anna
Yes, that meaning is a subject often on my mind. I think it is easier to pull off in painting as every time I try to write a nonrepresentational poem I find readers really struggle with meaning in a way they might not with visual language. Different areas of the brain I suppose.
very cool pictures as well….
Thanks, he’s a favorite of mine for a long time now. I saw one of his pieces at the National Gallery, it was a magnificent surprise as I didn’t know it would be on display. I came around the corner and was floored.
Oh my, I love all of this, but that second section… words that speak directly to my heart.
and “exposing the artifice
to reveal the truth”
yes.
Picasso was blind about a lot of things but he shared and lived that wisdom, ‘Art is a lie that makes us realize truth’. I am thrilled the second passage spoke to you, I think it is something we artists/poets/dreamers face in this cynical world that continues to tell us every art form is dead, or tired, or at least at the end of what it can do and we should therefore shut up and go home.
i have long loved and admired his work (the breadth and scope – A M A Z I N G!)
spanning and describing our time (before and beyond) . . . your aquired energy
and inspiration are clear . . .
art fireballs
tossing grendades (asbestos gloves and a beret required;)
thanks anna 😀
Did you see the documentary that just came out? It toured art house theaters here over the summer. We understand each other at the molecular level – I would say, he’s going to make that grey, or he’ll snow that one over (his wife even used that term) before he would do it. I also several times made comments and then like magic they’d come out of his mouth. It was awesome. I so want an asbestos beret, thanks for the mental image :D.
hey anna,
i havent managed to catch the doc as yet but its now on my wishlist . . .
have read much on the man and his work though and, well, hes an exemplar
type huh?
berets on! lets head for the fire 😀
Oh, yes please, I love an adventure :D.
Awesome piece, Anna !
Thank you kindly, Ayala!
That ending was wonderful, Anna. And, ah, sometimes I wish the image I saw in the mirror was really NOT me but what I imagined….
Mary, I think we all do at some point and it (forgive the pun) mirrors our relationship with ourselves, part reality, part distortion. Thank you!
Untangle an idea of art….great sentiments geared towards his abstract pieces….love the sentiment about exposing truth as well……artists who break boundaries deal with the critique that then becomes the debate that then moves things on. I suppose that all art is truth, as all art is a reflection of ourselves- hey- check me out being all philosophical! 🙂
Hey Stu, I like you being all philosophical :). Wonderful the piece inspired some consideration, thanks so much for the visit.
I like all of this but, the line I like everyone is quoting: Painting paints itself. LOL
Very moving Anna. Unless kept perfectly straight and under glass, however would the paint remain on the foil without cracking, chipping or falling off? Amazing creativity, both on the artist’s part, and, your words.
I have painted many pieces on aluminum over the years and so far haven’t had any problems. I buy thick pieces of sheet metal though. Thank you, I try to find the right style, diction, presentation for a particular subject.
Fascinating images–both Richter’s and yours, Anna. Art as the expression of an introspection without which the species, however straightforwardly it survives, never really lives.
‘like the image in a mirror
is subtly duplicitous
exposing the artifice
to reveal the truth..’
ties it all up neatly for me.
I looked at what he says about himself and his work, what art critics have said, how I feel about it, and then read an essay about an 8 year-old boy’s interpretation of the work. It was exciting to see how the interpretations clashed, merged, and threw off various reflections. The title is a play on a poem about a self-portrait painting in a convex mirror so I enjoyed the sense of allusion and distortion there. Thanks, I know abstract art often isn’t appealing for you so appreciate the visit doubly!
I love the textures in this…poem and Richter’s art. Color and texture…my favs. Wrote an experimental poem in a delayed response to your prompt, Anna.
Wonderful Victoria, I look forward to it! I’ll be by as soon as I get back to my office from my run.
There is nothing abstract about me, so I didn’t get it … 🙂 lol
Actually, living in an art gallery of the beyond abstraction, this rang so true to me. Five stars of kool from me.
Haha, ‘living in an art gallery of the beyond abstraction’ is an album title if I ever heard one. Also, thank you for the introduction to Zoe Keating, I downloaded all her songs.
Zoe’s stuff really turns me on too, glad your hooked. An album title, maybe. Keep smiling.
This is so beautifully layered and complex. I’ve read it several times, and take something new each time. Creativity is like a living organism to which we play host (if we are lucky and feed it well), but it very much has a mind if its own, and decides its own direction. For some, it decides well. I would definitely hang the first painting on my wall.
Thank you Patti, I’m so honored for the rereads. I like your analogy and happy to know you enjoyed the art.
The way your brain works is amazing. I could sit here and keep re-reading this to ponder something different every time. It reminds me of how I feel when I write sometimes. I have these gushes of words that come. It’s almost as if my brain is working in spite of me. I think it’s amazing to see what comes when we give ourselves over to that creativity.
Lori, how wonderful to see you again! I love what you’ve said here; I think that surrender takes us beyond our limitations and ego.
first let me say that i love these pics, and i’m not familar with the artist, i will have to look him up. i knew i guy who painted on aluminum, and then fit the pieced together to make shapes, as if to make one giant sculpture of painting… it was awesome stuff
“untangle an idea of art
incoherent, absurd, disorienting
your ontological exploration
like the image in a mirror
is subtly duplicitous
exposing the artifice
to reveal the truth”
that is always the hope isnt it? and i like that you ended the poem on that question. enjoyed this very much anna
Awesome that you’re now introduced to Richter, his career spans decades and he does everything from photorealism to nonrepresentational work. That’s a great concept for sculpture/painting. I do think that’s the hope, so happy to hear you enjoyed it.
This is my favorite kind of art, and I thoroughly enjoyed your descriptions. But the piece took me so much deeper with these lines:
“your ontological exploration
like the image in a mirror
is subtly duplicitous
exposing the artifice
to reveal the truth”
Incredible writing, Anna. But I’m unclear—is this the ending? If not, I think it should be. Is the following section part of the poem or more of an afterthought? The above five lines are quite powerful and would close the piece so well, leaving the reader with much to think about.
I just enjoy the pictures so much I used three instead of one. It wasn’t intended to be the end but you are more than welcome to end it there if you prefer. The remainder was important to me as an artist.
Of course it is! I suppose I just found that section particularly gripping. All of the poem is wonderful, as is every word you write.
That’s so kind of you to say, I’m running behind from a busy evening but look forward to reading what you’ve been writing :).
Oh, Anna, how you hit upon the truth! I paint and I write, and I do them in very different ways. My words want to be direct, concise and in their simplest terms. Painting demands layers and texture and hues and tones, none overpowering or muddying the other.
This is an interesting contrast, you’ve given me something to think about, thank you!
an archeology of abstraction….richter’s paintings are so multilayered…so is your writing…
I think it is part of the attraction for me. In his work he sometimes obliterates the history of the layers, he seems to need the destruction for the sake of honesty. I think there’s some of that in revision but it may not be as intense.
really great Anna. Fun to read, love the mirroring of the art, which is terrific btw, and verse. The overriding metaphor, in both word and visual, come out strong. Excellent piece. Thanks
I did try to stick to a conceit as I didn’t want the poem to be experimental or nonrepresentational (well, I likely did but decided that since it was OLN and an introduction for many people that I wouldn’t get too wild :)). Thanks so much for the visit; I missed you at Meeting the Bar but excited you’re here for OLN. I’ll be by soon.
Just as in the painting your words are layers of meaning, questioning, interpretation….a marvelous piece that had me contemplating both your words and the images….the depth of each has me realizing I have barely scratched the surface.
Thanks Susie, I enjoy that process of layering which I believe allows all those things to co-exist within the work. Lovely to see you again, I look forward to reading your poem!
Great exploration of art, art’s definition, art as meaning, meaning as personal exploration, whether and why art reflects an inner self, or exposes an outer nature. The questions are all posed, the answer is found in the soul of the receiver. Exquisitely rendered as always.
Oh Gay, yes precisely, it is, I feel passionately, for the receiver to answer or else where is the engagement, the dialogue? I wrote an essay about it and used what I think is a marvelous interview with Sister Wendy Beckett:
This openness in art is what I think Sister Wendy Beckett is
responding to in her interview released with Pains of Glass. The interviewer
asks her what we can gain from developing an interest in art. She replies with
typical candor, “You can become more fully human.” This startles the
interviewer. “It’s frightening. Art is a frightening thing. If you really look
at art (pause) it will change you. Not into something you’re not but into
something you’re meant to be but never quite got to. We’ve all got capacities
within us that we haven’t used and often we don’t want to use them because the
more you are the more challenges life offers…It’s both difficult and
wonderful.”
Ah! I agree with Brian. A very cool write. Great seeing you post your poetic work.
Thanks emmett, nice to see you here!
I’ve not seen Richter’s work in the original but his paint-handling, color relationships, layers and textures result in strong spatial explorations which elicit emotional and physical response even when viewed as miniature reproductions–and that’s saying something. Gorgeous , exciting work and your words complement the pieces so well. Enjoyed your post.
Thank you, nice to meet you and happy to make your introduction to Richter!
Fine piece and fine close. We do see what we want to see – well maybe not all the time?
Anna :o]
Thanks Anna, I’m behind on my reading but hoping to catch up tomorrow :)!
I imagine images; most of which are never reflected in mirrors. And how I picture myself is never shown there. Isn’t that what an abstraction is — something other than what we see?
Absolutely, and I think it can go beyond that into the nonrepresentational which is perhaps invisible. If painting represented itself through his vision what would it look like? Why do we try to paint what cannot be seen perceptually but ‘seen’ in other ways.