OTTAWA, CANADA.- The National Gallery of Canada is proud to present German artist Daniel Richter’s electrifying, large-scale paintings in the new exhibition Daniel Richter: Pink Flag - White Horse, in the Contemporary Galleries until 10 September 2005.

The Berlin-based painter, who built his reputation with abstract works, has attracted an increasing amount of critical attention in the past few years for his massive representational paintings, 9 of which are featured in Daniel Richter: Pink Flag - White Horse. Richter draws inspiration from found images that include reproductions of artworks, book covers, film stills, newspaper clippings, comics and album covers. With his brush, this material is transformed into spectacular compositions that explode with violence, fear, political struggle, urban alienation and social transformation.

“The paintings in Daniel Richter: Pink Flag - White Horse are both unsettling and beautiful,” says Pierre Théberge, Director of the National Gallery of Canada. “Together, they represent a unique and significant contribution to 21st century art that is just now being discovered by a broader North American audience.”

Born in Germany in 1962, Richter has participated in numerous European exhibitions. This is his first touring exhibition in North America. Daniel Richter: Pink Flag - White Horse is the result of a collaboration between Wayne Baerwaldt, former director of the Power Plant in Toronto; Kitty Scott, Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Canada; and Scott Watson, Director and Curator of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver.

The exhibition, which also includes a display of ephemera from the artist’s studio, is accompanied by a colour catalogue with an introduction by the curators.

The exhibition Daniel Richter: Pink Flag - White Horse is organized by the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver. The exhibition is made possible by the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council, the Goethe Institut, Toronto, and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart.