This mini exhibition gives a crash course into the work of the iconic and unpredictable German artist, merging unseen photographs with a diverse number of his paintings. (They’ve squeezed a few wonderfully slapdash fabric works into the low-lying room downstairs.) Some are playful, some are politically charged, but they’re always mercurial and convoluted.
The show reveals how intertwined Polke’s work was with his own biography, having escaped communist East Germany with his family at the age of 12. In one giant canvas, deeply reflective on the role of the artist in post-Nazi Germany, the artist, like a street peddler, pulls open his jacket to show the empty promises that lie inside. ★★★☆☆
- Der heimische Waldboden. Höhere Wesen befahlen: Polke zeigen!, through Feb 2, 2025, Schinkel Pavillon, Oberwallstr. 32, Mitte, details.
