Gerhard Richter critical of 2011 German Pavilion

Gerhard Richter is not at all amused with the choice of Christoph Schlingensief to represent Germany at the next Venice Biennale in 2011. “That’s a scandal,” said Richter, quoted by the Berliner Zeitung. “They’re taking a performer although we have thousands of artists.” Moreover, the painter associates the selection of the multitasking director Schlingensief with “the decline of painting.”

Curator Susanne Gaensheimer who made the choice has reacted with a written statement, published by Art magazine. While honoring Richter’s role as “the most important living artist of the twentieth century,” Gaensheimer consciously chose Schlingensief as an artist who challenges both the content and the form of decidedness while transgressing borders. “In association with the German pavilion, I view his work as a contribution to discussions about the deterritorialization of the arts and to questions regarding the social relevance of art.”