Sigmar Polke - Lévy Gorvy

Sigmar Polke

Sigmar Polke

German artist Sigmar Polke’s stylistic heterogeneity and experimentation were highly influential for a generation of innovative artists such as Martin Kippenberger, Richard Prince, and Fischli & Weiss. Polke was particularly interested in testing the limits of his materials, often mixing unusual chemicals into his photographs and paintings to see what might occur. Importantly, his stylistic innovations were strongly tied to a bold critique of both society and art. The artist was born in Oels, Germany, in 1941, studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with Joseph Beuys, among other teachers, and taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, Hamburg. In 1963, Polke founded the “Capitalist Realism” movement with Gerhard Richter, an ironic, anti-capitalist art style that, like Pop Art, appropriated content from advertising while simultaneously rebuking it. In 1978 the artist moved to Cologne, where he worked until his death in 2010. Polke has had solo exhibitions at the Getty Center, Los Angeles and the Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo. The Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Tate Modern, London; and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, have all hosted retrospectives of his work.

Video

Evening of Discussion on Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing

May 2, 2018

Exhibitions

Selected Press

Blouin Artinfo | Top Art Shows in London This Week

April 5, 2018

German artist Sigmar Polke’s stylistic heterogeneity and experimentation were highly influential for …

Financial Times | Critics' Choice

March 10, 2018

Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing at Lévy Gorvy London is the first show to consider the …

Art Daily | Lévy Gorvy opens an exhibition devoted to the Ben-Day dot

March 7, 2018

In the late 19th century, the American illustrator and publisher Benjamin Day developed a cost-effective …

London Live Evening News | Legendary Pop Art creators' work showcased in London

March 5, 2018

The way the 19th Century mass printing technique, the Ben-Day Dot inspired three legendary pop art creators …

The Sunday Telegraph | Out of Hiding

March 4, 2018

Roy Lichtenstein's pop art classic Frightened Girl (1964) goes on public show for the first time in …

Blouin Artinfo | Top Art Shows in London This Week

March 1, 2018

“Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing” at Lévy Gorvy. The exhibition explores the greater …

The Art Newspaper | Lichtenstein hidden in private collection for 25 years to be unveiled

February 23, 2018

Frightened Girl (1964) has been tucked away in a private collection in Europe since its last outing in …

Town & Country | Ten Exhibitions To See This Spring

February 22, 2018

'Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing' at Lévy Gorvy. The Ben-Day dot is the subject of this …

Blouin Artinfo | ‘Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing’ at Lévy Gorvy, London

February 12, 2018

Lévy Gorvy will host an exhibition titled “Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing” at its …

FAD Magazine | Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing

February 4, 2018

In the late 19th century, the American illustrator and publisher Benjamin Day developed a cost-effective …

Artlyst | Source and Stimulus: Polke, Lichtenstein, Laing

January 3, 2018

Featuring exceptional works by the legendary trio of artists, this is the first exhibition to connect …

Artists

Specializing in Works By