Today I went to the Sigmar Polke exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). I had high expectations because Polke (1941 – 2010) was introduced as a highly experimental and influential German modern artist. I thought the exhibition might be a nice starter at the beginning of part 5 and provide some inspiration.

I’m probably repeating myself by stating that I’m generally not very much into modern art because it’s too conceptual for my taste. But I went to the Mike Kelley exhibition recently, following a recommendation by my sister and was really impressed. I wrote about the visit in my drawing 1 blog (http://www.patricia-karsten.de/wp-drawing1/wordpress/?p=2922). That visit slightly changed my attitude so I was a bit more willing to have a closer look at another modern artist.

But what I saw in the Polke retrospective just didn’t appeal to me visually. For me, it was a collection of strange ideas, presented as works of art. Some political content, some sexual content, expression of protest against ‘the establishment’. I’m quite critical of society myself but wasn’t able to relate to Polke’s works.

From the visit I realized that I’m interested in different things, not so much into making visual jokes. A politically or socially critical message is not detrimental but I think I just have a different taste. I’m back to my base line attitude, similar to explaining why I don’t like capres. I just don’t like the taste. But I can absolutely respect people who find them delicious. It makes no sense to argue whether they taste good or bad.

Resources

MOMA exhibition website: http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1407
Exhibition review: http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1911649/print