Gerhard Richter has gone gothic. The German artist unveiled his latest work recently in the unlikely place of Cologne Cathedral in Germany: a 200-square foot church window which Richter designed as a gift to his adopted hometown Cologne.
His is a radical re-interpretation of holy art. The window's colourful glass mosaic looks like a giant pixel screen made up of 11,000 squares. The gothic tracery which frames the glass adds a serious note, creating a fascinating tension between abstract art and church architecture.
Richter's design is not what the church management originally envisioned. When the cathedral's head architect first approached him five years ago, the brief was to illustrate a martyr scene. But Richter chose to take his own work as inspiration and modelled his design on his famous painting '4096 colours' of 1974. The decision sparked some heated debates in church circles but was eventually accepted.
The controversies will probably not end here, but so far the Richter design has delighted church goers and art critics alike. Its 72 colours match those of the other windows and create what head architect calls 'a beguiling light which incorporates everything that has ever been said about spirituality, light and colour.'
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