Blumen 1985

Sigmar Polke made this print, *Blumen*, which translates as flowers, using ink, and probably some kind of photographic process. What I see is a kind of organized mess, a layering of different marks, building up a kind of crazy, yet harmonious composition. There’s this grid in the background, which feels like a screen or a window, and then these splatters and drips of ink, like they're exploding out from behind it. But then you’ve got these delicate, almost cartoonish flowers floating on top, like a kid doodled them after the fact. The texture is interesting, it’s got these areas of intense, concentrated ink, contrasted with the washy, translucent areas. This contrast gives the piece a kind of depth, making it seem like there are multiple layers of reality happening at once. Polke is in conversation with people like Richter, maybe Warhol, but he goes his own way with this kind of off-kilter approach, embracing accidents and blurring the lines between high and low art. It's this openness to chance and imperfection that makes it so compelling.