Teils diesseits, teils jenseits, 1977

About the Work

Sigmar Polke resists the myth of the autonomously creative artist. He draws on extant pictures and printed textiles, which he then combines to unfold new complexes of meaning. In ‘Partly Here, Partly Hereafter’, the print pattern emphasises the vertical, which is countered horizontally by the painted clouds. The fabric suggests a domestic atmosphere, whereas the cartoon characters are borrowed from pop culture and organised in the classical order of the Last Judgement.