The German artist Daniel Richter first came to prominence in the 1990s when he transitioned into fine art from the world of music, where he began his career designing posters and record sleeves for bands. His early paintings were abstract, characterised by intensely colourful forms that lie somewhere between graffiti and intricate ornamentation. Figures began appearing in his works around 2002, often inspired by reproductions from newspapers or history books and rendered in bright colours that create an atmosphere of heightened awareness and artificiality. Ever the innovator, his recent works tread a path between figuration and abstraction, typified by the chaotic entanglements of fragmented bodies against simplified chromatic backgrounds.
Influenced by the legacy of Symbolists such as James Ensor and Edvard Munch, Richter combines motifs from art history, mass media and pop culture to create idiosyncratic, surreal worlds. These can sometimes be read in political terms, as in works that reference themes of immigration or surveillance, but they evade any single interpretation. He uses vivid chromatic contrasts and abstracted patterning to convey a disquieting emotional tenor, heightened by the temporal and spatial indeterminacy of scenes that refuse to resolve into a coherent time, place, or even pictorial space. The same is true of his contoured colour fields, which are reminiscent of maps in an atlas but do not correspond to any specific region. The artist describes them as an 'encirclement, a sort of pressing, entwining, squeezing', which conveys a strong sense of confrontation and flux.
In Richter's recent large-scale canvases, anthropomorphic figures are set against flat gradations of colour that recall polychromatic fantasy landscapes but evade spatial orientation or understanding. As he explains, 'My concern is with the surface, this flat, tangled, never-changing scheme of figure constellations, in and out.' Outlined expressively in black oil stick, the splayed limbs and gaping mouths convey an aggressive carnality that is heightened by Richter's bold use of contrasting colour. 'The dynamic in my work is mainly based on pushing and shoving, or on elements that are being confronted by each other – mingling, pushing, pulling,' he says. Despite the underlying violence, the works convey a touching sensuality and beauty that counterbalances their restless energy.
Born in Eutin, Schleswig-Holstein, Richter lives and works in Berlin. He studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg from 1992–96 under Werner Büttner – one of the protagonists, along with Martin Kippenberger, of the revival of expressive trends in painting during the 1980s – and later worked as assistant to Albert Oehlen. Comprehensive solo exhibitions of his work have been held at the Kunsthalle zu Kiel and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (both 2001); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2005); Hamburger Kunsthalle and Kunstmuseum Den Haag (both 2007); CAC Málaga and Denver Art Museum (both 2008); and Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover (2011). In 2015, the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt hosted a retrospective, while a monographic exhibition travelled to Camden Art Centre, London; 21er Haus, Vienna; and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark (2016–17). More recently, Richter’s work was shown in the group exhibition Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium at the Whitechapel Gallery, London (2020) and in 2022, a solo exhibition was held at the Ateneo Veneto, Venice, coinciding with the 59th Venice Biennale. In 2023, a major solo exhibition is on view at the Kunsthalle Tübingen.
2023
Daniel Richter: Stupor, Thaddaeus Ropac, London, UK
DANIEL RICHTER, Kunsthalle Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
2022
Furor II, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Limbo, Ateneo Veneto, Venice, Italy
My Lunatic Neighbar, Space K, Seoul, South Korea
2021
Daniel Richter: Furor I, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Marais, France
2020
Daniel Richter: So Long, Daddy., Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
Hallo Mama, Galerie Richter, Lütjenburg, Germany
2019
pUnser die Zukufnt, GRIMM, New York, NY, USA
H.P. (jah allo), Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2018
I Should Have Known Better, Thaddaeus Ropac, London, UK
2017
Le Freak, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Lonely Old Slogans, Denmark; 21er Haus (now Belvedere 21), Vienna, Austria; Camden Art Centre, London, UK
Im Atelier Liebermann: Daniel Richter / Jack Bilbo, Max Liebermann Stiftung, Berlin, Germany
Music for Orgies, GRIMM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Grafik für Alles, Galerie Sabine Kunst, Munich, Germany
2016
Lonely Old Slogans, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark
Wild Thing, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Half-Naked Truth, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2015
Hello, I Love You, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
2014
spandrillen - mamillen - ronald, Kunstverein Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
Chromos goo bugly, TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol, Innsbruck, Austria
2013
Daniel Richter 6 Neue Bilder, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Match 2013: Two Men with Glasses and a Woman in an Igloo, Esbjerg Art Museum, Esbjerg, Denmark
2012
Voyage, Voyage, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Marais, France
A Concert of Purpose and Action, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Grafik, Mbf-Kunstprojekte, Munich
2011
10001nacht, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, Germany
2010
Anti Away, Regina Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Spagotzen, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Museum der Moderne Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria
2009
Imitators be There, Galerie Haas, Zürich, Switzerland
Daniel Richter, Essl Museum, Klosterneuberg/Vienna, Austria
Love Parade, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen, Denmark
"Oh la la", Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Kunstpreis Finkenwerder 2009, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
2008
Daniel Richter: A Major Survey, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, USA
Die Palette, CAC Málaga, Malaga, Spain
Die Idealisten, David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
Rock und Polizei, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
2007
Daniel Richter, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Daniel Richter, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
2006
Daniel Richter, GRIMM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Huntergrund, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, Switzerland
Daniel Richter und Uwe Lausen, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Die Peitsche der Erinnerung, with Jonathan Meese, Kunsthaus Stade, Stade; E-Werk, Freiberg; Kunstverein Rosenheim, Rosenheim; Helms Museum, Hamburg, Germany
2005
Acht Stunden sing kein Tag, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Pink Flag - White Horse, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
2004
The Morning After, David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
Pink Flag - White Horse, The Power Plant, Toronto; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2003
Hirn, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany
Daniel Richter, Bernier/Eliades Gallery, Athens, Greece
2002
Grünspan, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
2001
Billard um halb Zehn, Kunsthalle, Kiel, Germany
La Cause du Peuple, Patrick Painter Inc., Los Angeles, CA, USA
2000
Für Immer, with Tal R, Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, Germany
Die Frau, Rock'n'Roll, Tod - Nein Danke!, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Je ne Suis Pas un Robot, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France
1999
Fool on a Hill, Galerie Johnen & Schöttle, Cologne, Germany
Experiment Freund, Galerie Freund/Wind, Vienna, Austria
1998
Organisierte Kriminalität, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
1997
17 Jahre Nasenbluten, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
1996
Daniel Richter, Galerie Jürgen Becker, Hamburg, Germany
1995
Neue Bilder, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
2023
Au bout de mes rêves, Tripostal, Lille, France
1983 | 2023: 40 Years, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg Halle & Salzburg Villa Kast, Austria
2022
something new, something old, something desired, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany
2020
30 Years in Paris, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Pantin, France
Radical Figures: Painting in the New Millennium, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
Back to the Present, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2019
Jonathan Meese, Albert Oehlen, Daniel Richter. Works from the Hall Foundation, Hall Art Foundation, Schloss Derneburg, Derneburg, Germany
Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, Tal R: The Men Who Fell from Earth, EMMA | Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
Izvor Pende & Daniel Richter: Swimming Together, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia
Live Forever, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
Small Painting, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL, USA
Works on Paper, Galleri Bo Bjerregaard, Copenhagen, Denmark
Papierarbeiten III, Galerie Max Weber Six Friedrich, Munich, Germany
2018
Across Boundaries, Draiflessen Collection, Mettingen, Germany
The Art of Recollecting, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany
Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, Tal R.: Bavid Dowie, Kunsthaus Stade, Stade, Germany
This and That: Some Recent Acquisitions, Hall Art Foundation, Schloss Derneburg, Derneburg, Germany
Daniel Richter, Izvor Pende: Plivati zajedno, MMSU, Rijeka, Croatia
Musik für die Orgien, GRIMM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Art off the wall, The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Canada
The World on Paper, Deutsche Bank, Palais Populaire, Berlin, Germany
2017
Swimming Together: Izvor Pende and Daniel Richter, Museum of Fine Arts, Split, Croatia
German Encounters: Contemporary Masterworks from the Deutsche Bank Collection, Garage Gallery, Fire Station, Doha, Qatar
The Men Who Fell from Earth, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark
Im Atelier Liebermann: Daniel Richter / Jack Bilbo, Stiftung Brandenburger Tor, Max Liebermann Haus, Berlin, Germany
Big Paper Works, Galerie Sabine Knust, Munich, Germany
Berlin Now, David Nolan Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2016
A Question of Perspective, GRIMM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2015
GERMAN COOL, Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2014
Eurasia: A View on Painting, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France
Unendlicher Spass, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Landschaft nach 2000, Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück, Germany
2013
DISASTER, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Pantin, France
Why Painting Now?, curated by_vienna, Vienna, Austria
Von Georg Baselitz bis Daniel Richter, Lyonel-Feininger Galerie, Quedlinburg, Germany
Dritte Welle - Die Gruppe SPUR, der Pop und die Politik, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Papierarbeiten II - 70er Jahre bis heute, Galerie Max Weber Six Fiedrich, Munich, Germany
Commodious Thoughts from Outer Space, Galerie Krobath, Vienna, Austria
2012
Es lebe die Malerei! Junge Kunst aus der Sammlung Essl, Essl Collection, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Nightfall, MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen, Hungary
HEUTE. MALEREI, Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg, Germany
Art and Press, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
Gewoon Schilderen, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
Painting Forever, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
2011
Berlin zeichnet!, Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück; Festival der Tiere, Essl Collection, Klosterneuburg, Austria
Memories of the Future, La Maison Rouge, Foundation de Galbert, Paris, France
2010
Hareng Saur: Ensor and Contemporary Art, S.M.A.K. Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent, Belgium
Permanent Trouble. Kunst aus der Sammlung Kopp München, Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
Disquieted, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR, USA
Die Nacht. Nachtdarstellungen in der Zeitgenössischen Malerei, Städtische Galerie, Delmenhorst, Germany
2009
60 Jahre - 60 Werke - Kunst aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
Ferne Nähe - Natur in der Kunst der Gegenwart, Art Museum, Bonn, Germany
Die Kunst ist Super!, Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany
2008
Olaf Metzel, Markus Oehlen, Daniel Richter - Pictures, Galerie Andreas Höhne, Munich, Germany
2007
Passion for Art, Essl Museum in Klosterneuburg, Austria
Der Symbolismus und die Kunst der Gegenwart, Van der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany
Fish and Ships, Maritimes in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Jetzt, Beck & Eggeling Galerie, Düsseldorf, GermanyNews on Paper, Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann, Düsseldorf, Germany
Die Kunst zu Sammeln, Stiftung Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany
Malerei aus der Sammlung Falckenberg, Overbeck-Gesellschaft, Lübeck, Germany
New Arrivals and Classix, Galerie Hafenrichter & Flügel, Nuremberg, Germany
Paint it Blue, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
Die Peitsche der Erinnerung, with Jonathan Meese, E-Werk, Freiburg; Kunsthaus Stade, Stade; Kunstverein Rosenheim, Rosenheim; Helms Museum, Hamburg, Germany
Replacing Mashkov, recent acquistions, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
Passion for Art, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria
2006
Tokyo - Berlin / Berlin - Tokyo, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Ein Teller ELEND, layr:wuestenhagen contemporary, Vienna, Austria
Once Upon a Time in the West, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
What Would I be Without You..., City Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Full House-Gesichter Einer Sammlung, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Kust Brengt Kunst, Beaufort Triennal, Oostend, Belgium
2005
Styles und Stile. Aktuelle Malerei aus Deutschland aus der Sammlung Scharpff, Goethe, Institut Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
La Nouvelle Peinture Allemande, Le Musée d'Art Contemporain, Nîmes, France
Daniel Richter / Jonathan Meese, Kunsthaus Stade, Stade, Germany
Falckenberg Collection, City Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
The Triumph of Painting: Part II, The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2004
Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Neueröffnung, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany
Huts, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Rheingold III, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany
2003
Heißkalt - Aktuelle Kunst aus der Sammlung Scharpff, Hamburg Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Berlin - Moskau / Moskau - Berlin 1950 - 2000, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany
Ludwig Richter und seine Schüler + Daniel Richter, Academy of Fine Arts, Dresden, Germany
Krawall + Remmidemmi, with Tal R, Golden Pudel Klub, Hamburg, Germany
2002
Preis der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
2001
Vantage Point, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Painting 2001, Victoria Miro Gallery, London, UK
2000
Europe - Different Perspectives in Painting, MuMi Museo Michetti, Francavilla al Mare, Italy
SALON, Delfina Project Space, London, UK
German Festival in India, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai; Birla Academy of Art & Culture, Kolkata; Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India
1999
Richter Bohlen Koether, Galerie Freund / Wind, Vienna, Austria
Scorpio Rising, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Germany
Officina Europa, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
Mozart on Television - New Painting from German, Deitch Projects, New York, NY, USA
Gallery Swap - Contemporary Fine Arts at Sadie Coles, Sadie Coles HQ, London, UK
1998
Melancholie und Eros in der Kunst der Gegenwart - Sammlung Murken, Von Der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal; Städtische Galerie, Albstadt; Kunstmuseum, Thun; Städtische Galerie, Regensburg, Germany
Made in Berlin, Rethymnon Center for Contemporary Art, Crete, Greece
1997
Punch In Out, Hamburg Kunsthaus, Hamburg, Germany
Albert Oehlen, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
1996
Malerei III, Monika Sprüth Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Sammlung Volkmann zeight: FAUSTRECHT DER FREIHEIT, Sammlung Gera, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen, Germany
1995
Scharfer Blick, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany
Austria
Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg/Vienna
Belgium
Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels
Canada
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Denmark
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk
France
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Strasbourg
Germany
Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
Collection of the Federal Republic of Germany
Deutsche Bank Collection, Frankfurt
Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin, Berlin
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart
Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig, Leipzig
Sammlung Boros, Berlin
Städel Museum, Frankfurt
Netherlands
Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague
USA
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2009
Finkenwerder Art Prize, Kulturkreis Finkenwerder, Hamburg, Germany
2001
Sponsorship Award for Young Art, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
1999
Prize of the Böttcherstraße in Bremen, Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen, Germany
1998
Otto Dix Award, Gera