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Sigmar Polke — Carnival
Sigmar Polke

Carnival

A carnival scene emerges from Polke's layered interplay of acrylic paint and graphite markings applied over a pre-printed canvas, creating a disorienting collision between mass-produced imagery and gestural mark-making. The work embodies Polke's signature Capitalist Realism aesthetic, where the festive chaos of carnival becomes a vehicle for subverting consumer culture and the boundaries between high and low art. Vibrant passages of paint dissolve into and conflict with the underlying printed surface, evoking the sensory overload and artifice inherent in both carnival spectacle and modern visual culture.

Medium
acrylic and graphite on printed canvas

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

June 29, 2015

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Spotted works by Sigmar Polke

About this work

Sigmar Polke, Carnival

A carnival scene emerges from Polke's layered interplay of acrylic paint and graphite markings applied over a pre-printed canvas, creating a disorienting collision between mass-produced imagery and gestural mark-making. The work embodies Polke's signature Capitalist Realism aesthetic, where the festive chaos of carnival becomes a vehicle for subverting consumer culture and the boundaries between high and low art. Vibrant passages of paint dissolve into and conflict with the underlying printed surface, evoking the sensory overload and artifice inherent in both carnival spectacle and modern visual culture.

Medium
acrylic and graphite on printed canvas
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Capitalist Realism, German Artist, Postwar Artist, Carnival Scene, Male Artist, Acrylic And Graphite, Mixed Media, Printed Canvas, Postwar Contemporary, Festive Subject, Figurative Art, Pop Influence, Contemporary Art, Playful Mood, Neo-Expressionism

More works by Sigmar Polke

Collected by

Art Institute of Chicago