Bare Wunder: Sigmar Polke - 100 Years of Mediumistic and Phantasmagorical Photography
Group show curated by Veit Loers

Mar 26th – May 2nd, 2015
Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf

Sies + Höke is delighted to present 'Bare Wunder', a group show that focuses on the various phases of Sigmar Polke's creative photographic oeuvre which is heavily affected by irony and mysticism. On the one hand, the exhibition aims to establish a connection between Polke's artistic influencers and the so-called 'ghost-photography', on the other it wants to relate Polke's work to associate artists and photographers as well as potential contemporary successors. Alongside Polke's photographies, the exhibition features other works from artists such as Anna & Bernhard Blume, John Bock, Brassaï, Johannes Brus, Tony Cragg, Walter Dahn, Louis Darget, Daniel Egg, Fischli/Weiss, Martin Kippenberger, Jürgen Klauke, Jochen Lempert, Peyman Rahimi, Man Ray, Gerhard Richter, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Gregor Schneider, Albert von SchrenckNotzing, Thomas Schütte, Ted Serios, Anton Stankowski, Otto Steinert, Miroslav Tichý, Type 42 (Anonymous), WOLS, Francesca Woodman, Thomas Zipp and many others.

Copyright the artists; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Untitled, ca. 1982 - 1983

each 40 x 30,5 cm

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Sigmar Polke
Istanbul, 1974

30 x 40 cm

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Stankowski-Stiftung; Kicken Berlin; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

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Talia Chetrit
Dirt, 2011

Silver gelatin print
35,6 x 27,9 cm
43 x 35,4 cm (framed)
Edition of 4 + 2 AP

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel (aus der Edition zur Ausstellung "Medium Fotografie"), 1984

40 x 30,5 cm

Sigmar Polke
Untitled (Table with Overturned Jug) II, 1969

Gelatin silver print
60 x 50 cm
71 x 60 cm (framed)
Unique

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel, 1982

40,5 x 50,5 cm

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Estate Martin Kippenberger; Kicken Berlin; Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Helga Maria Klosterfelde Edition, Berlin; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

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John Bock
Über den PARA-Behälter ins Symptom, 2009

each 24 x 18 cm

Copyright the artists; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; TZR Galerie, Düsseldorf; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel, 1964-68

61,5 x 50,4 cm

Gerhard Richter
Sechs Fotos. 2.5.89 - 7.5.89, 1991

Black/white photograph on RC-paper
Each 35 x 50,8 cm

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel (Picabia-Westkunst)

30 x 40 cm

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Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel (Mariette's Geburtstag), 1970

each 10,8 x 8,5 cm / 8,5 x 10,8 cm

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Type 42 (Anonymous)
The Valley of Gwangi, 1960s - 1970s

8,3 x 10,8 cm

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Type 42 (Anonymous)
Deanna Lund, 1960s - 1970s

8,3 x 10,8 cm

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Jürgen Klauke
Schlafstörung, 1989

each 165 x 125 cm

Copyright the artists; Yvette Blumenfeld; Georges Deeton 2016; Estate of the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

In the middle of the 60s Polke discovered the medium of photography. His early works from the mid ́60s were concerned with immediate subjects found in the everyday world. Focusing on the exaggerated display of everyday objects, Polke challenged the authenticity of photographs. His works from the 70s heavily criticised notions of reality; he explored questions of authenticity, imitation and authorship through manipulations and the stylistic use of multiple exposures and overexposes. The darkroom became his laboratory in which he experimented with the mutable chemical consistency of the developer liquids and thus manipulated the development process. Polke disregarded standardised procedures and rules of chemistry that determine the length of time a print is to remain in a chemical bath as well as the consistence of the developer fluid in those baths. By creating experimental distortions in his images, he undermined the photographs' alleged fidelity to reality and covered his works under a veil of mysticism.

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Stankowski-Stiftung; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel, ca. 1984

60 x 50 cm

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Stankowski-Stiftung; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel (desastre)

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

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Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel

24 x 30 cm

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Stankowski-Stiftung; George & Betty Woodman; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel, ca. 1982

50 x 60,5 cm

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Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel, 1997

71 x 60 x 4 cm

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Sigmar Polke
Zollstockstern (Düsseldorf, Feldstrasse), 1970

8,5 x 10,8 cm

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; Man Ray Trust, Paris; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Museum Ludwig; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

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Sigmar Polke
Desastres und andere bare Wunder, 1984

30,4 x 40,4 cm

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Estate Brassaï - RMN; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; Estate Brassaï - RMN; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

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WOLS
Untitled, 1939

9 x 9 cm

Thomas Schütte
Kleine Geister Nr. 11, 1996

Photograph in black and white
67,9 x 45,1 cm
Edition of 3

Copyright the artists; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Louis Darget
Le Verveau, 1896

Gelatin silver print
8,7 x 6,2 cm
20 x 26 cm (framed)

Copyright the artist; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Louis Darget
Planète et Satellite, 1896

Gelatin silver print
6,3 x 8,8 cmlo

Copyright the artist; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; Man Ray Trust, Paris; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; © The Estate of Sigmar Polke; George & Betty Woodman; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg; Man Ray Trust, Paris; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Sigmar Polke
Ohne Titel, 1964-68/90

60,3 x 50,7 cm

Copyright the artists; George & Betty Woodman; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

Copyright the artists; Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene, Freiburg; Man Ray Trust, Paris; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Photo Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf

The exhibition intends to capture Polke's painterly approach to photography and to emphasise the radiant energy that his works have on contemporary generations of artists.

Bare Wunder: Sigmar Polke - 100 Years of Mediumistic and Phantasmagorical Photography
Group show curated by Veit Loers

Artists

Artworks

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Previous Exhibition