Michael Werner is showing fifteen of Sigmar Polke’s pour paintings at its gallery in London. Made towards the end of the artist’s career, these works exemplify Polke’s approach to his art, as he experiments with form and the science of painting.
The dramatic shapes and colors of Polke’s pour paintings are especially striking when presented en masse in the environs of Michael Werner’s stunning Mayfair space.
Polke liked to experiment with the science of pigments, which is hardly more evident than in these paintings, which explore layering of paint, texture, color, and the impact of different qualities of paint on the paper.
Mixed-in materials like powdered mica create variations in the quality of the paint, which makes gestural splashes of color on the seemingly-limitless black surfaces.
Polke made pour paintings for some fifteen years of his career. The large, impactful works are notable not only for their composition, but also for their place in Polke’s boundary-pushing oeuvre.
In 1963, the German artist co-founded the Capitalist Realism movement with Gerhard Richter. Following this, he pushed the boundaries of painting throughout his career, encompassing elements from Pop Art before creating his own genre-defining work. Now, he is considered one of the most important postwar artists. Respect for his work has only grown since his death in 2010.
“Sigmar Polke: Pour Paintings on Paper” is on view at Michael Werner in London until March 4.