Since Gerhard Richter’s introduction of blurring into his technique, it has become a stylistic principle in representational figurative and abstract painting as well as in the photographic work of many younger artists. It engenders effects such as softening and veiling, which create romantic, nostalgic visual experiences and lend the images an aura of the mysterious. The blur of motion that represents the progressive dynamics of modern life feeds upon completely different visual experiences. A third aspect is that of distortion, which makes an image so difficult to recognize that it cannot be identified at all. Enlarged, pixelated, or blurred images are fascinating, irritating, unsettling—and ultimately force the viewer to deal with the question of the reality of what he or she perceives as well as the role art plays in the perceptual process.
 
Artists featured:
Pablo Alonso, David Armstrong, Anna und Bernhard Blume, Wolfgang Ellenrieder, Michael Engler, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Maxine Henryson, Bill Jacobson, Adam Jankowski, Tamara K. E., Wolfgang Kessler, Karin Kneffel, Peter Loewy, Marc Lüders, Ralf Peters, Qiu Shihua, Gerhard Richter, Ugo Rondinone, Johanna Smiatek, Thomas Steffl, Ernst Volland, Franziskus Wendels, Michael Wesely, Paul Winstanley
 
Exhibition schedule: Hamburger Kunsthalle, February 11, 2011–May 22, 2011