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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.
Sigmar Polke
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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.

More from Sigmar Polke

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

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