Polke Live – Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles

Sigmar Polke: stained glass and transparency – with Jacqueline Burckhardt and Bice Curiger

Anne-Sophie Foron — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 10:22:37 +0000

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

Sigmar Polke’s artistic experiments – Catalogue presentation and discussion – with Anna Polke, Bernard Marcadé, Corinne Rondeau and Bice Curiger

Anne-Sophie Foron — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 11:36:51 +0000

First part – presentation of the catalogue:
At 6pm, an aperitif will accompany the presentation of the bilingual catalogue of the exhibition Sigmar Polke : Beneath the cobblestones, the Earth, in the presence of Anna Polke. Edited by Bice Curiger, this collective work brings together some thirty contributions – Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, Petra Lange-Berndt and Dietmar Rübel, Maria Stavrinaki, Britta Zoellner, Helen Marten, Kathy Halbreich, Laura Owens, Chantal Crousel, Michael Krebber, Trajal Harrell, Nina Pohl, Friedrich Wolfram Heubach, Alvaro Barrington, Margaux Bonopera, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Thomas Kling – to shed light on Sigmar Polke’s free, ironic and experimental approach.
More on the catalogue

Second part – discussion on the topic : Sigmar Polke’s artistic experiments
At 7pm, with Bernard Marcadé, Corinne Rondeau and Bice Curiger

Presentation of the speakers further down

Presentation of the speakers:

Anna Polke
Daughter of Sigmar Polke, in 2018 she founded the Anna Polke Stiftung, a not-for-profit foundation based in Cologne that encourages research into and engagement with her father’s work, while supporting new forms of artistic transmission

Bernard Marcadé
An art critic and historian, he is the author of numerous essays on the avant-garde and contemporary art. In 2019, he presented Les infamies photographiques de Sigmar Polke at the BAL in Paris, offering a new reading of the artist’s photographic work.

Corinne Rondeau
Corinne Rondeau is a lecturer in aesthetics and art sciences at the University of Nîmes, and an art and film critic. She works regularly with France Culture and various specialist arts magazines. Her work examines contemporary forms of artistic experience, between a critical eye and sensitive involvement.

Sigmar Polke and photography 1/2 – with Christoph Wiesner, François Halard and Bice Curiger

Anne-Sophie Foron — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 13:29:58 +0000

First focus on the photographic work of Sigmar Polke, with Christoph Wiesner, François Halard and Bice Curiger.
A second event on this subject is scheduled for 18 September, with Diane Dufour and Bice Curiger

Presentation of the speakers:

François Halard
This photographer lives between Arles and New York. Exploring the intimate world of artists through their living and creative spaces, he has devoted numerous portraits to major figures such as Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Miró and Miquel Barceló.

Christoph Wiesner
Director of Rencontres d’Arles since 2020, he previously orchestrated the programming of Paris Photo after starting his career at the Esther Schipper gallery in Berlin and running the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris. His work aims to renew the photographic scene by incorporating contemporary issues such as ecology, feminism and postcolonial studies.

Vue de l’exposition : Sigmar Polke
Paris 1971, 1971
Sélection de 30 tirages gélatino-argentiques uniques issus d’un ensemble de 41, 23,5 × 17,8 cm chaque
Collection Hesta AG, Suisse

Meetings and screenings – Programme : Polke Live 1/2

Anne-Sophie Foron — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 14:08:37 +0000

This summer, we are offering three events to continue exploring the many facets of Sigmar Polke – an atypical and unclassifiable figure of the late modern period.
To provide food for thought, exhibition curator Bice Curiger has brought together a panel of leading figures from the art world, including friends of the artist and specialists in his work.

The speakers are presented below.

Friday 27 June, 19h-20h
Sigmar Polke: stained glass and transparency
with Jacqueline Burckhardt and Bice Curiger

Friday 4 July, from 18h
Sigmar Polke and France

18h-19h :Presentation of the exhibition catalogue over an aperitif, with Anna Polke, Sigmar Polke’s daughter
19h-20:30h : Discussion between Bernard Marcadé, Corinne Rondeau and Bice Curiger

Tuesday 15 July, 19h-20:15h
Sigmar Polke and photography 1/2
with Christoph Wiesner, François Halard and Bice Curiger

Download the Programme (in French)

Introduction of the speakers:

Anna Polke
Daughter of Sigmar Polke, she founded the Anna Polke Stiftung in 2018; this non-profit foundation based in Cologne encourages research into her father’s work while supporting new forms of artistic transmission.

Jacqueline Burckhardt
An art historian, curator, author, publisher and restorer, this close friend of Sigmar Polke helped him to create the stained glass windows in Grossmünster Cathedral in Zurich, his last major project. In 2024, she was awarded the prestigious Meret Oppenheim Prize.

Bernard Marcadé
An art critic and historian, he is the author of numerous essays on the avant-garde and contemporary art. In 2019, he presented a new reading of the photographic work of Sigmar Polke with the exhibition ‘Les Infamies photographiques de Sigmar Polke’ at the BAL in Paris.

Corinne Rondeau
A lecturer in aesthetics and art sciences at the University of Nîmes, Corinne Rondeau is an art and film critic who works regularly with various specialist arts magazines and France Culture radio. Her work examines contemporary forms of artistic experience, between a critical eye and sensitive involvement.

François Halard
This photographer lives between Arles and New York. Exploring the intimate world of artists through their living and creative spaces, he has devoted numerous portraits to major figures such as Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Miró and Miquel Barceló.

Christoph Wiesner
Director of Rencontres d’Arles since 2020, he previously orchestrated the programming of Paris Photo after starting his career at the Esther Schipper gallery in Berlin and running the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris. His work aims to renew the photographic scene by incorporating contemporary issues such as ecology, feminism and postcolonial studies.

Sigmar Polke and photography 2/2 – with Diane Dufour et Florian Ebner

Anne-Sophie Foron — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 08:04:43 +0000

Second focus on Sigmar Polke’s photographic work with Diane Dufour, Florian Ebner and Bice Curiger.
The discussion will address the tactile poetry of his practice, shaped by orchestrated accidents and experimental freedoms, recalling his painting.
A practice that inspires today’s artists.

Speakers:

Diane Dufour
Co-founder and co-director of LE BAL in Paris, Diane Dufour is a leading figure in contemporary photography and visual culture. She also directs the series Les Carnets du BAL, a dialogue between artists and scholars reflecting on today’s visual society. She is currently presenting the exhibition We Others (20 June – 16 November 2025) at LE BAL, and in September she will take part in the Festival des Sciences Sociales in Marseillewith a talk on “Images in Information.”

Florian Ebner
Art historian and director of the Photography Department at the Centre Pompidou, Florian Ebner explores the dialogue between photography and contemporary art. He is currently curator of Wolfgang Tillmans’s exhibition, on view at the Centre Pompidou until 22 September 2025.

Sigmar Polke, Paris, 1971
Collection Hesta AG

Vue de l’exposition : Sigmar Polke
Paris 1971, 1971
Sélection de 30 tirages gélatino-argentiques uniques issus d’un ensemble de 41, 23,5 × 17,8 cm chaque
Collection Hesta AG, Suisse

Screening with FESTIVAL PHARE – exploring questions of experimental cinema, Germany, painting, and the working class.

Anne-Sophie Foron — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:14:01 +0000

Screening organized with the FESTIVAL PHARE and Maud Calmé, exploring questions of experimental cinema, Germany, painting, and the working class.
Duration: approx. 1h15
Where: Patio
Free admission

More information available in French.

Le bal des gens bien & La Chenille ((The Ball of Decent People & The Caterpillar) – Screening and discussion with the directors

Anne-Sophie Foron — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:16:56 +0000

Screening of two short films, followed by a discussion with the directors

Le Bal des gens bien (The Ball of Decent People), by Damien Laval and Loan Calmon

Duration: 32 min / Language: French
Synopsis: This 32-minute essay documentary offers a series of portraits of residents at the Jeanne Calment nursing home in Arles. Through their stories, the film explores a form of collective memory of the Arles region and attempts to weave together one story—their stories. In the rhythm of daily life, the shadows of Jeanne Calment and Vincent van Gogh appear regularly, creating a dialogue between yesterday’s painted portraits of Arlesians and those who today share their memories.

La Chenille (The Caterpillar), by Léonard Contramestre

Duration: 10–15 min / Language: French
Synopsis: Unpacking the hidden meaning of the “restarting caterpillar” became for me both a sociological and aesthetic quest, a phenomenon rich with threads to follow. The caterpillar is far more than a dance: it is the symbol of a middle class going in circles, clinging to one another at arm’s length, dragging itself forward as members push each other along in mutual dependence.
Why does the caterpillar “restart”? As if trying to set a great machine in motion again—perhaps mocking, with irony, a bygone working-class world built on assembly-line labor?

Tour of the exhibition with Bice Curiger ! –

Anne-Sophie Foron — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:04:27 +0000

Before the closing of Beneath the Cobblestones: The Earth, Bice Curiger will lead a guided tour of her final exhibition as Artistic Director of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles (2013–2025).

Under her direction, no fewer than 40 temporary exhibitions have been presented within our walls, shaping a programme that is both rigorous and inquisitive, and always open to dialogue between Van Gogh and contemporary art.

Free admission — booking online or at the ticket desk
Book here

Vernissage de l’exposition “Mon cher… Urs Fischer” Photo : Hervé Hôte