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Lot Essay
'Nierenform' (1964) is an early work by Sigmar Polke, painted while he was still a student at the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf. From this date onward, Polke began using pre-printed industrial fabric - including tablecloths, bed linens and curtains -, which was to become a determinant feature in the development of his work. The use of 'bad taste', symbolised here by the gaudy coloration and op-art pattern of the fabric, positions the artist against conventional bourgeois esthetics and the tradition of 'Beaux-Arts' painting. Following the Duchampian tradition of the ready-made, and inspired by the commercial imagery of Pop Art juxtaposed with the socially active work of Joseph Beuys, Polke "aspire toward an art for the man in the street instead of for the cultivated and monied middle classes." (M. Rowell, 'Sigmar Polke. Works on Paper 1963-1974', New York 1999, p. 10.)
The use of the pre-printed fabric for the background of an abstract painting released the artist from the composition of the work, giving it a free and random aspect. Polke has said that "the materials themselves produce the climate for the work. It is not, therefore, simply a matter of colour but a mood generated through use, a climate that includes the vibration set up by the history of their use and their chemical nature." (K. Power, 'Sigmar Polke', in: 'frieze', issue 4, April-May 1992, p. 31)
The swirling abstract 'kidney form' painted onto the brightly coloured background adds to the irony and trivial aspect of the painting. "Humorously conceived, crudely drawn, with no regard for accepted artistic grammar or convention, Polke's work could be compared in style to a child's unselfconscious rendering of the surrounding world." (G. Garrels, 'Mrs. Autumn and Her Two Daughters', in: 'Sigmar Polke', Amsterdam 1992, p. 69.)
The dynamic energy conveyed by the swirling pattern in the floating 'kidney form', along with the fabric's loud mix of colours, join forces to produce a psychedelic effect much in tune with the style of the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the same time 'Nierenform' also displays Polke's interests in the alchemical nature of paint and the effects of hallucinagenic drugs on human perception. "The mixture of the childlike and the deadly serious seems to be also a characteristic strategy of Polke's work where apparent innocence and humor veil issues of utmost consequence." (ibid.)
The use of the pre-printed fabric for the background of an abstract painting released the artist from the composition of the work, giving it a free and random aspect. Polke has said that "the materials themselves produce the climate for the work. It is not, therefore, simply a matter of colour but a mood generated through use, a climate that includes the vibration set up by the history of their use and their chemical nature." (K. Power, 'Sigmar Polke', in: 'frieze', issue 4, April-May 1992, p. 31)
The swirling abstract 'kidney form' painted onto the brightly coloured background adds to the irony and trivial aspect of the painting. "Humorously conceived, crudely drawn, with no regard for accepted artistic grammar or convention, Polke's work could be compared in style to a child's unselfconscious rendering of the surrounding world." (G. Garrels, 'Mrs. Autumn and Her Two Daughters', in: 'Sigmar Polke', Amsterdam 1992, p. 69.)
The dynamic energy conveyed by the swirling pattern in the floating 'kidney form', along with the fabric's loud mix of colours, join forces to produce a psychedelic effect much in tune with the style of the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the same time 'Nierenform' also displays Polke's interests in the alchemical nature of paint and the effects of hallucinagenic drugs on human perception. "The mixture of the childlike and the deadly serious seems to be also a characteristic strategy of Polke's work where apparent innocence and humor veil issues of utmost consequence." (ibid.)