“Wenn wer dt. Meister oder wer wird deutscher Meister” (If anyone German champion or who will be German champion) dates from Daniel Richter's early creative phase and reveals his background in the Hamburg punk and graffiti scene of the 1990s. The imposing large-scale format incorporates a range of different materials, including spray paint, varnish, and oil, making this work a compelling testament to Richter's early forays into abstract painting and the influence of anarchist impulses stemming from his time in the Hamburg squatter scene and his involvement with the anti-fascist movement. Daniel Richter was intensely devoted to abstraction at the beginning of his career in the 1990s. He studied at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg under Werner Büttner and worked as Albert Oehlen's assistant. This period had a lasting influence on Richter's work. In “Wenn wer dt. Meister oder wer wird deutscher Meister”, the connection between complex figurations and ornamental structures in a tense dialogue with gestural, seemingly random color explosions becomes evident.
The dynamic composition of this work opens up like a psychedelic cosmos, hovering between the aesthetic worlds of graffiti and random abstraction. The young Richter, who has his roots in the Hamburg punk scene where he designed record covers for the progressive left-wing label Buback, expresses his enthusiasm for urban subcultures and poster art in the present work. The anarchistic energy that is part and parcel of Richter's artistic approach reveals itself immediately: exuberant colors that break the pictorial space and defy every convention. “Wenn wer dt. Meister oder wer wird deutscher Meister” is an abstract mesh of colors and an ironic commentary on German society and its popular culture. Here, Richter deals critically yet playfully with questions of identity and belonging in a typical manner. The title – the ‘German champion’ question – can be understood in a sporting and a nationalist context and leaves room for various interpretations.
The period around 1999 marked a decisive turning point for Richter: the transition from pure abstraction to an increasingly figurative pictorial language emerged during this creative phase. Although figurative elements can not be recognized, the shift toward figuration is already evident. This ambivalence and complexity, which continues to characterize Richter's work until today, is a hallmark of his oeuvre. Richter often ironically describes his works as “insanely annoying”; however, the awareness of the material that he expressed in his early “klecksen” (blotches) is the prelude to an intensive examination of color and form that makes him one of the most influential artists of his generation. [KT]