GERHARD RICHTER AT SFMOMA

"Art is the highest form of hope." -Gerhard Richter

I finally got to visit the new SFMoMA yesterday, which reopened after a long remodel.  In anticipation of the visit, I painted this dress, inspired by Gerhard Richter's 256 Farben (256 Colors) from 1974, which is part of the Fisher collection at the museum.

The colors in Richter's color chart paintings are ordered by chance, which seems surprising when you encounter the precise-looking arrangement.    Of these works, Richter is quoted as having said that he "...found it interesting to tie chance to a wholly rigid order."  We happened to notice that there were more warm tones on the left side of the canvas, and for some reason this made me appreciate the painting even more.

It was fun wearing my handpainted dress to the museum, and I even made a few friends in the process.  One is a photographer from Seattle named Sam Saimo who took the photo below and kindly emailed it to me!  Another was an elderly lady who exclaimed, "There's hope in the world!" when I told her about my process for creating art-inspired clothing.

256 Farben is just one of the hundreds of modern works on few at the new museum, and I encourage you to make a visit the next time you're in the Bay Area.

Photos by William Sealy, and the bottom photo by Sam Saimo.