Noticias
As part of the Mexico-Germany Dual Year
The Museum of Modern Art opens its doors to Sigmar Polke´s singular art
March 09, 2017German Sigmar Polke’ art (1941-2010) will arrive for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM, for its acronym Spanish), where his work can be seen from March 11th to May 21st, as part of the Mexico-Germany Dual Year.
"Sigmar Polke. Music of an unknown origin”is a series made up of 40 gouaches of 70 by 100 centimeters made in 1996, which shed light on the reflections that the artist expressed in his work during more than 50 years of active life.
Sylva Navarrete, director of the MAM, said that it is an honor to receive Sigmar Polke’s work, whom she described as an interesting and unique artist, part of a generation that renewed pictorial languages and postmodern aesthetics.
His work, she said, full of skepticism and irony, marked a new figuration after the rise of minimalism and conceptual art, with explosive images, a brutality in the brushstrokes and the use of juxtaposition without fear of saturation, the vulgar or the kitsch.
The director of MAM stressed that Polke's works, although they may seem wild and primitive, are very refined. They show the fascination and rejection of the painter before pop art, which he criticized for being produced in series since he used to work on crafts.
Meanwhile, Marisol Argüelles, deputy director of MAM, said that the art of this original creator from Oels goes between the figurative and the abstract. He proposes an intelligent mockery of the esthetics of consumerism, as well as presenting metaphors of time, for example, by letting paint drip on images of a newspaper.
For the series "Music of an unknown origin", the artist cut flowers from the tabloid press to title the pieces with phrases that help build the artwork and work as tips for everyday life, and which can also integrate a philosophy of life.
Christian Wild, a spokesman for the German embassy in Mexico, said that these Polke’s 40 works will be exhibited at the MAM. He said it is a small but important exhibition of one of the most unique contemporary artists in Germany, whose legacy is over 11,000 photographs and several thousand paintings showing the relationship between the reality of images and reality itself, art and day to day.
He stressed that the exhibition is part of the Mexico-Germany 2016-2017 Dual Year that only in the first half of the program has registered over 3 million visitors in more than 750 events, with which seeks to further expand the German-Mexican relationship and trusted in the success of this initiative in its second part.
Finally, Jenny Mügel, coordinator of the Dual Year, said that this is an exhibit conceived by the artist explicitly for the Institute of International Cultural Relations of Germany and that the Goethe Institute has carried around the world.
Through 40 gouaches, the public will be able to get into the work that Polke made during over 50 years of active life in painting, field in which he forged an artisan style, of ironic and cynical tone, as it is reflected in the titles of this series.
Attendees will have the opportunity to admire pieces made in gouache on paper, very colorful, with titles as suggestive as: 1) In statistical terms, every German has 10,000 things, 2) How long is a meter?, 3) Some things are recognized by the State. 4) Nowadays, we are no longer allowed to seize televisions and 5) Make lies a speech, speeches in madness, enemies in time and time in eternity.
"Sigmar Polke. Music of an unknown origin” will have a series of parallel activities to deepen the German artist’s work. Prior to its opening, which will take place on March 11th at 12:30 p.m., specialist Wiebke Trunk will give an introductory talk at 11:30 p.m.
On Sunday, March 12th, the same specialist will offer an exploration workshop from 12:00 to 17:00 hours, while on Saturday May 6 will be held a round table in which special guests will reflect on the author's work.
"Sigmar Polke. Music of an unknown origin “ will be on display at the MAM until May 21st, after being presented at the Museo Amparo in Puebla. Then it will travel to Oaxaca, where it will be opened to the public in the Museum of Contemporary Art of that city.
Mexico,Distrito Federal
