Mirror

Gerhard Richter

2008

Mirror glass

Dallas Museum of Art

This piece, which is a fully functional mirror, questions the nature of representation, a central concern of Gerhard Richter in his long career as an artist. Playing with the notion of what is an accurate depiction of reality, it simply and literally reflects what is in front of it, whether museum visitors or other works of art. The ubiquitous mirror is at once a common, everyday material and a mysterious object, invested with mythic capabilities and allusions. It is almost impossible to pass a mirror without looking; it demands our attention, and thus our time. storage