Daniel Richter is described in the hand-out to this show as ‘having shaped painting in Germany for over two decades’. This seems to me to be a somewhat overblown claim.

These are powerful paintings of an exceptional nastiness. He is certainly a prolific painter and all the sixteen large canvases were made this year. The style is vigorous but it is also cold and brutal. The paintings look as if they have been churned out by a remorseless robot, programmed to depict a degraded sexuality. The flailing limbs are sketchy but it is clear that the figures are either perpetrators or victims.

Every canvas packs a punch but the experience, for me at least, was not enjoyable. The title of this show can be seen as a warning. I should steer clear.

Daniel Richter ‘I should have known better’ is at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac at 37 Dover Street, London W1S 4NJ until 26 September.