Sigmar Polke: stained glass and transparency
with Jacqueline Burckhardt and Bice Curiger
19h
In 2006, Sigmar Polke won the competition to create twelve stained glass windows for Zurich’s Grossmünster cathedral, his last major work, which he completed in 2009, shortly before his death. Combining natural agate and painted glass, abstraction and figuration, he explores biblical stories ranging from Genesis to the great figures of the Old Testament. Jacqueline Burckhardt, an art historian, publisher and restorer and a close friend of Polke, accompanied him throughout the project, and will talk about the creation of this major work.
Curator Bice Curiger will then discuss the central role of transparency in Polke’s work. In several of the paintings in the exhibition, we can see how the artist abandons opacity in favour of transparency, thanks to the use of innovative materials and techniques. In this way, he invites viewers to look behind the work, through the work.
Portrait of Jacqueline Burckhardt. Photo : Gaetan Bally
Vue de l’exposition. Photo : Hervé Hôte