Highlight on Sigmar Polke

Sigmar Polke (1941-2010), a major painter of the second half of the 20th century, enjoys widespread recognition across Europe. However, the artist remains relatively unknown to the French public, with the last solo exhibition dedicated to him taking place twelve years ago. In 2014, Sigmar Polke was finally honored in France with two exhibitions dedicated to his work.
Until February 2014, the Musée de Grenoble presented a collection of paintings created between the early 1980s and the mid-2000s. This exhibition led to the publication of a catalog in November 2013.
From January 31 to May 4, 2014, "Les Abattoirs" in Toulouse exhibited for the first time in France the complete editions and multiples created by the artist.
Internationally, the Museum of Modern Art in New York devoted a major retrospective to him from April 19 to August 3, 2014. This exhibition subsequently traveled to the Tate Modern in London (October 1, 2014, to February 8, 2015) and then to the Museum Ludwig in Cologne (March 14 to July 5, 2015).
As early as the 1980s, the IAC took an interest in Sigmar Polke's work. Its collection includes a series of photographs titled "Les Olgas", which we invite you to rediscover in this featured focus.
© Yves Bresson/Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole © The Estate of Sigmar Polke, Cologne

© Yves Bresson/Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole © The Estate of Sigmar Polke, Cologne

© ADAGP

Sigmar Polke

Les Olgas

1981

Série unique
Série de 11 photographies
Tirages couleur à développement chromogène

Les Olgas est une série de onze photographies de paysages. Le cadrage et le sujet (des failles verticales sur des parois rocheuses de couleur ocre) créent une illusion anthropomorphe : un sexe féminin semble à chaque fois apparaître sur les falaises et les collines photographiées. Polke est ici dans un registre particulièrement ambivalent : avec Les Olgas, il affirme la duplicité des images. La causticité, presque paillarde, le dispute à l’érotisme.
On retrouve dans cette série photographique l’influence assumée de Picabia, un autre peintre de l’ambiguïté, entre sensualité et calembour.
Enfin, la variation des couleurs pariétales, parfois marquées de taches sombres ou d’écoulements dus à l’érosion et aux intempéries, évoque la nature profondément picturale du travail de l’artiste.
IAC → COLLECTION → Highlights → Sigmar Polke
i-ac.eu/en/zooms/10_sigmar-polke
printed on October 10, 2024 [13:12] from IP address : 44.222.134.250
© Institut d’art contemporain 2024