GAYLETTER

Don’t bother trudging out in the cold to a gallery or museum to get your art fix this week – stay home, pour yourself a stiff drink, and relax with this captivating documentary about the German painter Gerhard Richter. Directed by Corinna Belz, it gives a charming insight into the famously secretive painter. If you want an overview of his career, then this is not the film for you (I mean just google him, for god’s sake...). The docos main focus is Richter’s intense process of creating abstract paintings at his immaculate studio in Cologne. You get a sense of the physicality of his method as he spreads layer upon layer of bold paint onto the canvas, then scrapes a massive squeegee across the surface. The calmness of his studio work is contrasted by the frenetic flashing of bulbs as reporters hound Richter at openings. I loved getting to know Richter, he’s like the shy grandfather I never had, exuding a charming sweetness almost at odds with the masculine energy present in his paintings. The film is ultimately suspenseful, keeping you on your toes as Richter’s technique yields surprising results. With each smear of the squeegee – new colors emerge that you, and he, never expected.  —Patrick