Y5 explored the work of contemporary German artist Gerhard Richter with a workshop on paint and abstraction. Richter is a fascinating artist who lived on both sides of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War – fleeing from Dresden to Dusseldorf 2 months before the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. His work evidences both traditional, conservative training in his realistic painting – promoted by East Germany art academies, alongside abstract expressionism – a favoured, state-sponsored style of the West which stood for freedom and expression.