Gerhard Richter Catalogue Raisonné Mini-Skirts, 2023

screenshot of an instagram post by thearchiveislimited with a slick polyester miniskirt, laying flat, and printed all over with the cover of gerhard richter's catalogue raisonne volume three, in which a yellow red and green squeegee painting fills most of the top 3/4 of the skirt, and the title is printed in black on the white bar along the bottom edge. in the text below the post, the archive is limited explains how it could be assumed this on demand merch was approved by richter, because no one complained or filed legal objections, but by 2023 it was clear this was being deleted from red bubble, and the seller accounts terminated.
via ig/@thearchiveislimited

I, too, absolutely love imagining a world where Gerhard Richter indirectly approved or gave consent to the Product artist blankablank on Red Bubble, and where apparently no legal forces prevented the on-demand production of this polyester and elastane mini-skirt with the cover of Volume 3 of Richter’s catalogue raisonné, edited by, as the upside down printing on the hem indicates, Dr. Dietmar Elger of the Gerhard Richter Archiv, printed on it.

a thin white female presenting torso, ass, and thigh photographed in profile wearing a tight, thin polystester miniskirt printed with a wraparound image of the cover of gerhard richter's catalogue raisonne volume 6, which has a pink green orange yellow and purple horizontal strip painting above a white lower border with the title and editor name printed in black sans serif type. the cut of the skirt is such that though the strip painting is aligned at the figure's waist, at the point where it reaches her thigh, there is a thin white gap where the picture doesn't reach. it kind of is impossible to unsee, if you'll pardon the expression. anyway, this bootleg product was made on red bubble, and at least one example got into the wild before richter shut it down.
Red Bubble mini skirt rendering, 2023, via thearchiveislimited

But alas, we don’t even live in a world where the Product artists can just evade scrutiny by obscuring the name to Gerhards, or, as in the case of Product artist TabathaAnderson, not even mention Richter at all in the Red Bubble listing for the Line Color Rainbow mini-skirt with the cover of Volume 6 printed on it. In this case I have to imagine it wasn’t Richter’s legal forces alone, but his aesthetic forces which objected to the way the print of the Strip painting gapped along the side seam.

On the bright side, we do live in a world where at least a couple of these Product art objects exist, and The Archive Is Limited attests to that, and still may have a lead on a Gerhard Richter X Red Bubble throw pillow or tote bag.

Gerhard Richter Abstract Cover Mini-Skirt, 2023 [thearchiveislimited]
Gerhard Richter Line Color Rainbow Mini Skirt, 2023
Search all the Gerhard Richter books, ephemera, and whatnot at thearchiveislimited
Previously, related: On Scraper Capitalism