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Gerhard Richter and Antoni Tàpies: Matter and Identity

Terziyska, Yoanna (2012) Gerhard Richter and Antoni Tàpies: Matter and Identity. [MRP]

Item Type: MRP
Creators: Terziyska, Yoanna
Abstract:

This essay explores several paintings produced by the contemporary artists Gerhard Richter and Antoni Tàpies. The discussion illustrates the artists’ use of technique, showing various differences between the two stylistically and conceptually. However, through the exploration of their individual output, a fascinating similarity arises. The similarity offers the following thesis: in their paintings, Richter and Tàpies convey memory and identity through their particular uses of matter and layering. Memory and identity are products of each artist’s own history. The histories they represent, both personal and collective, are opaque and socially problematic. Their representation is resolved through the artists’ use of reference, symbolism and visual technique. Technique is employed through Richter and Tàpies’s specific manipulation of matter and layering, which albeit visually different, lends to the common goal of conveying complex histories. The paper addresses painting’s ability to represent the past by re-contextualizing it in the present.

Date: April 2012
Uncontrolled Keywords: contemporary artists, Gerhard Richter, Antoni Tàpies, identity, layering, Memory and identity, symbolism, complex histories
Divisions: Graduate Studies > Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories
Date Deposited: 17 Dec 2014 22:09
Last Modified: 21 Dec 2021 00:45
URI: https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/187

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