Contaminations. Experiments with and against the material from Sigmar Polke till present day

Cinnabar, orpiment, meteorite dust, and purple snails—in his constant experimentation with organic pigments, plants, chemicals, and binders, painter and intermedia artist Sigmar Polke focused on the interaction and transformation of material properties and their states.

With his real-time observation of contamination and toxicity, as well as an alchemical interest in experimenting with and against physical and chemical modes of decay and transformation, Polke focused on the process and its reproduction through carrier and recording media such as textiles, canvas, paper, exhibition walls, photography, film, and projection. Working with and against techniques and materials has inspired many artists in recent years to engage in material interventions and reflect on Polke's methods of experimentation. The painter Helen Marten has highlighted his working method as a fluid system of describing the world and his multi-layered use of projection—photographic, theatrical in the sense of drag, psychological, etc.

The processual nature of the material due to the effects of moisture and heat was a central feature of Polke's Biennale cycle and continues to be reflected in fluid exhibition staging and experiments in contemporary art as material and eco-critical reflections. The jointly organized study day by Anna Polke Foundation and KHM on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Polke's Athanor project at the German Pavilion in Venice in 1986, the diverse approaches, experimental methods, and artistic updates will be examined and reflected upon with theoretical and performative interventions in 2026 in cooperation with the Museum Abteiberg (Polke Room). On occasion of the seminar there will be excursions and it will culminate in a study day with interventions at the Museum Abteiberg on November 7, 2026.

Reading list (selection):

Kathrin Busch/Kathrin Peters (eds.), Wessen Wissen? Materialität und Situiertheit in den Künsten, Berlin 2016. Reader productive image interference: Sigmar Polke and current perspectives, Anna-Polke-Foundation, Berlin 2023.

Kathy Halbreich/Barbara Engelbach (eds.), Alibis: Sigmar Polke Retrospecticv 1963–2010, exh. cat. MoMA New York/Museum Ludwig Cologne, Munich 2014.

Dierk Stemmler (ed.), Sigmar Polke: ATHANOR, exh.cat. German Pavillon, Venice Biennial, Dusseldorf 1986.

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World : On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins, Princeton 2015.