Residents invited to exclusive first view of prestigious exhibition

The ‘ARTIST ROOMS Gerhard Richter’ exhibition at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery will open its doors for a public launch event on the evening of Friday 25 September – prior to starting its run from Saturday 26 September 2015 to 16 January 2016.

This high profile exhibition featuring work by one of the world’s most significant living artists will also help mark the start of the first-ever Plymouth Art Weekender. As many people as possible are invited to come along between 6pm and 8pm this coming Friday (25 September 2015.)

Anyone who would like to attend must register via Eventbrite www.richterlaunch.eventbrite.co.uk by midday on Thursday (24 September). In doing so they will ensure they are some of the first to experience the show, examine the breadth and depth of the practice of Richter and converse with like-minded art enthusiasts. This key exhibition features a carefully chosen selection of works that reveal Richter’s diverse practice. They include the magnificent 48 Portraits as well as examples of his abstract and mirror paintings.

The works on display are taken from ARTIST ROOMS on Tour 2015, now in its sixth year and showing at 17 museums and galleries across the UK this year. The programme is an inspirational collection of modern and contemporary art acquired for the nation by Tate and National Galleries of Scotland, through the generosity of Anthony d'Offay with additional support from funders, including the Art Fund.
Thanks to even further support from the Art Fund, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery will also be running a dedicated programme of talks, tours, films, music and performance events alongside this high-profile exhibition. These include a ‘Selfie Saturday’ photography workshop inspired by Richter’s work, several guided sessions with the curators, a lunchtime talk by Mark Godfrey, the Senior Curator of International Art at Tate plus a range of activities specifically aimed at young people.
Gerhard Richter was born in Dresden, which after World War II became part of the German Democratic Republic. He left East Germany shortly before the Berlin Wall was built in 1962 and settled in Düsseldorf. 

Since the 1960s, he has committed himself to a diverse approach to his work rather than following one particular ‘style’. This has allowed him to move seamlessly between figurative and abstract works and freely investigate the basic principles of painting.

Now recognised as one of the world’s most important living artists, Richter currently lives and works in Cologne. His work can be found in major museum collections around the world. He has recently exhibited at Tate Modern, London; The Louvre, Paris; and Fondation Beyeler, Base.

‘ARTIST ROOMS Gerhard Richter’ will be on display at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery from 26 September 2015 to 16 January 2016, 10am to 5.30pm Tuesdays to Fridays and 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. It will be closed on Sundays and Mondays and for Christmas and New Year from 25 December 2015 to 1 January 2016 inclusive.

For more information about the exhibition plus the extensive range of talks, tours, film, music and performance events that will run alongside it visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/museumrichter or call 01752 304774.

Information on both the ARTIST ROOMS collection and the touring programme can be found at www.artistrooms.org. For further information about ARTIST ROOMS On Tour please visit www.artfund.org/artistrooms. To see the full ARTIST ROOMS collection please visit www.tate.org.uk/artistrooms and www.nationalgalleries.org/artistrooms