Four Color Intertwine is a multicolored concrete microtop installation which explores a pattern of interlocking geometric shapes. Clark Richert was awarded the commission to design the installation in 2020 and his design was inspired by Herbert Bayer’s Four Chromatic Gates sitting just two blocks from the site of Four Color Intertwine. The piece builds on concepts of dimensionality, geometry, symmetry, and spatial relationships explored comprehensively within Richert’s larger body of work and relates them beautifully to Bayer’s gate structures that frame the entry to Alameda Station. Four Color Intertwine was Clark’s final commission as he passed shortly after its completion in 2021.
Richert’s relationship and history with Bayer as defined in his own words:
In the early 1960s, I became intensely interested in the experimental art happening at Black Mountain College, which was informed by the Bauhaus and the work of Herbert Bayer. When I learned that an art exhibit was scheduled at the Wichita Art Museum and would be curated by Bayer, I decided to enter. My work won first prize and the museum bought my painting. After graduating with a BFA from University of Kansas, I began looking for employment. I then received a letter from Mr. Bayer, offering me a commission for the Great Ideas of Western Man, sponsored by the Container Corporation of America, and publicized in Time Magazine. This commission enabled me to move to Colorado and attend the University of Colorado graduate art program. Throughout the years, I sustained an awareness of and communication with Herbert Bayer and respect for his work, including the Articulated Wall in Denver. When I learned of an installation of additional sculptures at the Broadway Park site, I was pleased to submit a proposal for a pavement piece. This piece, Four Color Intertwine (2021), is inspired by Herbert Bayer’s “Four Chromatic Gates.” It was created in collaboration with D4 Urban, Price Development Group, and Broadway Park North Metropolitan District #1.
Clark Richert grew up in Wichita, Kansas, in a family of mathematicians and scientists. In high school he felt he was destined for a career in science, when he discovered Abstract Expressionism and realized that he would be an artist. Clark spent his career exploring the structure of the universe through themes of pattern, dimension, and symmetry. He was most proud of his role as a founder of Drop City, an experimental artists community is southern Colorado, as well as the structural innovations in five-fold symmetry that he made throughout his career.
Clark’s work attempted to visually depict and rationalize complex theories that spanned the fields of chemistry, physics, and mathematics. His work and understanding of patterns preceded eventual Nobel prize winners. His paintings have been featured in the Smithsonian, Brooklyn Museum, Denver Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Museum of Modern Art in Vienna, and dozens of other Museums and Galleries. Per the Denver Post, Richert was “Colorado’s most important painter” and he left an enormous legacy through the countless number of students that he taught at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. In addition to the expansive creativity that he brought to everything he was involved in and his endless curiosity and intelligence, Clark is most remembered for his kindness and generosity.
All images courtesy of RULE Gallery
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Clark Richert – Rule Gallery
Clark Richert Exhibits Crisscross in Colorado I Westword
Colorado’s No. 1 contemporary painter has the mind of a scholar, the hand of an artist – The Denver Post
Clark Richert, One of Colorado’s Most Prominent Artists, Dies at 80 – HyperAllergic