Some are abstract, some are colored like a Rubik’s cube, and some are like out-of-focus photographs. It is as if Richter’s existence is not revealed, and his taste changes like the mimicry of an insect.

Somehow, butterflies have subtle differences in color and spots, even among the same species. The reason is that when preyed upon by birds and other predators, the presence of a different species allows them to survive. In order to keep their offspring alive, it is not enough to be the same as everyone else.

A team will die out if it only has worker ants. When the worker ants are overworked, the ants that have been resting support them, and they survive. Each has its own role to play. We should not look at the world based on a single standard.

‘To paint is to gain a certain perspective, which makes it a very human act.'” Gerhard Richter

(Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human.)

I think Richter’s artwork expresses the diversity of living things. That is why I think he does not have a specific style.

Richter’s complex eye in the background of the creation of “Birkenau” seems to reflect such compound thinking.

We hope you will go and see these works, which are on view for the first time in Japan.

◆Reference Articles

What “Birkenau” Tells Us about Gerhard Richter Exhibition

Is It Possible to Paint the Holocaust? –Why German painter Gerhard Richter permanently lent his own work to the National Gallery in Berlin