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| Vol. 24, No. 24 | June 4, 1999 |
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| Vol. 24, No. 24 | June 4, 1999 |
BY ULRIKA BRAND
"Art is always related to ideas: you can do it more-or less. I do it more." So says Markus Richter, a German artist who is the first to participate in a new international exchange program at Columbia's School of the Arts. Richter arrived in February to spend a semester at Columbia as artist-in-residence in the Visual Arts Division, living in student housing and creating art in a studio in Watson Hall amongst the graduate students.
Currently on view through June 15th is a group of works Richter has made during his stay in New York in a show entitled "dizzy" at The LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, in Dodge Hall.
Ronald Jones, chair of the Visual Arts Division, is responsible for initiating the program and for securing funding for it. He said, "We are thrilled to innaugurate this new program with Markus Richter. He was chosen because his work is very advanced, very rigorous and covers a lot of bases. As an installation artist he provides an outstanding example of leading edge production." In addition, Jones cites his own interest in expanding the scope of Columbia's art community. "For the last 15 years Germany has had a strong presence in the cultural imagination. This new program gives our students and faculty the ability to have an international reach." As part of the plan, Jones hopes to be able to send artists who graduate from Columbia's program to Europe in a reciprocal relationship.
Markus Richter was raised in Dresden and trained in painting at the Dresden Art Academy (Dresden Hocheschule fur bildenden kunste). In addition, he studied art at St. Martin's College of Art and Design in London as a recipient of the DAAD (a prestigious German scholarship comparable to the American Fulbright), and at 30 has already participated in eleven group shows. Describing himself as a painter, Richter creates conceptual pieces-often installations-that reflect a preoccupation with issues of surface and reality, perfection and blemish. Beginning with early experiments in trompe l'oeil (literal translation: "fool the eye") paintings of architectural details, Richter has used entire buildings as the basis for his installations, as in his 1997 piece "Permanent Black," which utlilized the facade of a museum in a building formerly owned by an ink industrialist. Visible through the windows, Richter created a virtual tank of leaking ink, describing it as "a horror cliché that evokes fear."
Richter's fascination with architecture as metaphor is connected with his Dresden roots, in the former East Germany. "After the reunification, there was a lot of discussion of surface matters; decayed, crumbling exteriors were made totally clean, white. So I think some of my work does respond to this German desire to keep everything clean." Many of Richter's pieces focus on the vulnerability of urban surfaces.
Work in the current exhibition includes illusionistic paintings of architectural details, such as a brick facade with holes drilled in it, puncturing the illusion. Some of the voids have cartoon-like shapes, revealing the artist's sense of humor. Asked to cite some current cultural influences, Richter mentioned "The Truman Show" ("I liked the moment when he broke through the horizon and the whole was exposed as a fake") and comic books ("The technique is very good"). For his part, Richter is a meticulous craftsman, and spends many hours in the woodshop laminating wood for pieces that have a manufactured, not handmade, quality. The artist is quick to point out, however, "Technique is not my interest, it's just a means to transport ideas."
The LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies, 310 Dodge Hall, is open from 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For information, call 212/854-4065. This program is made possible by Philip Morris Cultural Programs, Germany.