Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963-2010
The Museum of Modern Art presents the first comprehensive retrospective of
from April 19 to August 3, 2014. Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963–2010 is the first
exhibition to encompass Polke’s work across all mediums, including painting,
photography, film, drawing, prints, and sculpture. Widely regarded as one of
the most influential artists of the postwar generation, Polke possessed an
irreverent wit that, coupled with his exceptional grasp of the properties of
his materials, pushed him to experiment freely with the conventions of art and
art history. Constantly searching, Polke studiously avoided any one signature
style or medium; his method exemplified the definition of alibi, “in or at
another place,” which also suggests a deflection of blame. This exhibition
places Polke’s enormous skepticism of all social, political, and artistic
traditions against German history and the country’s transformation in the
postwar period. Four gallery spaces on MoMA’s second floor are dedicated to the
exhibition, which comprises approximately 300 works and constitutes one of the
largest exhibitions ever organized at the Museum. The exhibition is organized
by MoMA with Tate Modern, London. It is organized by Kathy Halbreich, Associate
Director, MoMA; with Mark Godfrey, Curator of International Art, Tate Modern;
and Lanka Tattersall, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and
Sculpture, MoMA. The exhibition travels to Tate Modern from October 2014 to
February 2015, followed by the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, in spring 2015.
The exhibition
is organized chronologically and across mediums, ranging from the intimacy of a
notebook to pieces that test the architectural scale of most museum galleries.
Among the many noted works on view are 13 films by Polke, including eight which
have never before been available; a performance made for West German television
that was last seen when it aired in 1972; and a group of monumental paintings
made entirely of soot on glass that have never been exhibited in the United
States. (Text: MoMA New York)