New public sculpture by Gerhard Richter

The Serpentine and The Royal Parks present the unveiling of Gerhard Richter’s latest large-scale sculpture, Strip-Tower (2023), on the plinth of the Serpentine South in Kensington Gardens. Inspired by his ongoing exploration of painting, photography, digital reproduction and abstraction, Richter’s work will be on display from April 25th to October 27th, 2024 as part of a long-standing tradition of public presentations in The Royal Parks.

Strip-Tower builds on Richter’s 2010 series of Strip Paintings, which were influenced by his earlier squeegee painting Abstract Painting 724-4 (1990). Using a fractal technique, colourful striped ceramic tiles adorn two perpendicular panels, creating a dense composition in which the intersecting panels form a cross-section for visitors to explore. Richter’s interest in reflections, systems and repetition, previously seen in 4900 Colours at the Serpentine in 2008, is evident in Strip-Tower, with the shiny tiles subtly reflecting both the viewer and the park environment. This latest work is testament to Richter’s ongoing commitment to exploring controlled change and eradicating hierarchy within artistic subject matter, echoing his earlier Grid series from 1966 and subsequent large-scale paintings such as Cage (1) – (6) (2006).