I began drawing as a very young child and had a grandfather who experimented with photography, so those things constituted my first exposure to art.
Sigmar PolkeRead
People expect things from art that are horrible for us who make it! They put the things we make in these restrictive places called 'museums,' then don't want to hear another word from us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists feel constrained by the expectations and confines imposed by society on their creations.
Sigmar Polke expresses the frustration artists often experience due to societal expectations regarding their work. When their creations are confined to museums, they are stripped of their broader context and dialogue, reducing the artist's voice and limiting the interaction between the art and its audience. Polke highlights the ironic disconnect between the audience's demands for what art should be and the artist's need for expression and engagement.
Themes
ArtExpressionExpectationsSocietyCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a discussion about the relationship between artists and audiences during a gallery opening.
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