In 2014, writing on the occasion of a major travelling retrospective of Sigmar Polke (1941–2010), Jutta Koether characterised the German artist as a ‘bad dad’: ‘a type of artist who refused to be pigeonholed and who performed, practiced, rather than being seen doing painting in a classic sense. But who never stopped maltreating painting’. Polke’s ‘maltreatment’ of painting takes centre stage in Der heimische Waldboden. Höhere Wesen befahlen: Polke zeigen! (The Native Forest Floor. Higher Powers Command: Show Polke!), a concise survey curated by Bice Curiger at the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin.
