THE GROOVE - How To Be An Iconoclast

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So many people have been called an iconoclast, yet very few deserve that label. To embody the essence of an iconoclast, you must dare to defy the gravitational pull of conformity. It’s more than just questioning established norms or wearing flamboyant clothes, it’s a refusal to bow before the altar of current trends and traditions. It requires an unwavering commitment to carve out your own destiny, regardless of what anyone thinks.

Hailed as one of the most important and innovative figures in the artistic landscape following the upheaval of World War II, Sigmar Polke was the ultimate iconoclast.

Born in 1941 as the seventh of eight children, Polke grew up in extreme poverty after his family lost everything in the war and had to escape from East Germany into West Germany in 1953. They settled first in Düsseldorf, where he decided to become an artist, and later in Cologne where he spent the rest of his life and developed a spectacular career until his death in 2010. Here are three ways he proved himself as an iconoclast:

True iconoclasts have wide and varied interests. Their curiosity and openness to questioning established norms extends beyond one specific domain or field of study. Iconoclasts are often polymaths or renaissance people, engaging with diverse subjects ranging from art and science to philosophy and politics. Think about Socrates, Galileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci, or Marie Curie. Their broad interests allowed them to draw connections between seemingly disparate areas of knowledge and approach problems from multiple perspectives.

Those who knew Polke and visited him in his studio repeatedly said that he consumed books voraciously and lived surrounded by them, frequently using concepts or images found in their pages as departing points for his work. Tomes by philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, volumes on magic, astrology, physics, mineralogy, Kabbalah, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, 20th-century exploration, politics, folklore, myths from around the world, among many other thousands of subjects, covered every surface of his studio.

By the 70s, Polke had left Germany to travel the world, taking pictures and recording footage in places ranging from São Paulo, Brazil to Cairo, Egypt, further expanding his perspective.

For a true iconoclast, this interdisciplinary approach not only fuels one’s creativity and innovation, but also enables them to challenge conventions and inspire change across different domains.

Iconoclasts deliberately subvert expectations by taking familiar concepts, traditions, or practices and twisting them in unpredictable ways. This can involve using unconventional materials, adopting atypical techniques, or presenting familiar ideas in a completely new context.

In the nascent stages of his artistic journey, Polke boldly appropriated elements from American Pop Art, especially the exaggerated comic-book aesthetics popularized by Roy Lichtenstein, by cleverly infusing them with his own distinctive flair, epitomized by the so-called “Polke dots.” For these he used no mechanical medium, instead painting each dot by hand. Yet, amidst the vibrant exuberance of Pop Art lurked shadowy echoes of Polke's tumultuous upbringing in East Germany and the perils of consumerism. While his work danced on the surface of pop culture, underneath was the weight of his childhood experiences. This juxtaposition of light and dark, of surface and depth, imbued Polke's art with a profound complexity and emotional resonance, elevating it beyond mere imitation and firmly establishing him as a bold, uncompromising voice in the contemporary art world.

Not content with traditional painting techniques, he immersed fabric in artificial balms to achieve a unique transparency. Additionally, by painting shapes on the back of the fabric, he cleverly allowed them to emerge as shadowy, enigmatic forms. Later in the 1980s, a phase of wild experimentation earned him the nickname of “the alchemist” by other artists, museum curators and collectors.

Polke truly pushed the boundaries of art to new extremes. With audacious flair, he created paintings by sprinkling silver oxide, powdered arsenic, beeswax, or granulated meteorite over canvases saturated with resin. These odd materials filled his works with an unparalleled sense of unpredictability and vitality. Some paintings underwent gradual color transformations over time, while others experienced temporary alterations based on fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Polke's bold foray into the chemical realm not only challenged traditional notions of painting, but also underscored his relentless pursuit of innovation and exploration in the ever-evolving space of contemporary art. “It's not something you can study in any kind of official way, rather, it's something you come to understand through experience,” he said.

In our era of the cult of celebrity, reality TV and the so-called social media “influencers” who leave nothing to people’s imagination, it’s palpable that almost everyone wants to be famous, and not always for the right reasons. But what about taking the opposite approach? Now, that would be radical.

Sigmar Polke didn’t like to schmooze, go to parties, or engage in small talk; in that sense he was the anti-Warhol. Part of his intrigue stemmed from his deliberate elusiveness. To this date, Polke remains an enigmatic figure. He shunned the spotlight and fiercely protected his privacy. He was notorious for his reclusive tendencies, often disappearing for months on end without answering calls, opening mail, or welcoming visitors into his studio. This inscrutability only added to the mystique of his work, leaving audiences captivated by both his artistry and his persona.

There’s even a hilarious story of a journalist who was sent to Cologne to interview him before the opening of his retrospective at the Tate Liverpool in 1995. The journalist had to fly back to the UK, sans story on Polke, because after a full day of searching, he simply couldn’t find the artist.

Precisely, an iconoclast like Polke used his mysterious nature to add to his allure and impact, having the world focus on his work and not on himself. He kept everyone guessing and this made them want more: people are often drawn to the unknown. Not only did Polke control his narrative with more refinement and precision than anyone who broadcasts to the world their every move, but by having this layer of protection, he navigated challenging environments while continuing to push boundaries with his art.

We need more iconoclasts that question established norms and conventions, forcing society to reevaluate long-held beliefs and assumptions. Polke’s insatiable curiosity and his unyielding pursuit of inspiration from all corners of the intellectual and artistic world, coupled with his fearless and unexpected turns, made him wildly successful (and rich) in his lifetime. As a true iconoclast, he paved the way for artistic and cultural progress that has inspired generations of artists after him. To become an iconoclast, you must cultivate a mindset of fearless exploration, relentless questioning, and creative rebellion. This involves challenging established norms and conventions, daring to defy expectations, and embracing the unknown with open arms.

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