Troubling Pigments (After Polke) | Diaries

Troubling Pigments (after Polke) explores the ecological, colonial, and social histories of pigments. Taking as its point of departure the eight pigments used in the eight monochrome paintings of the Farbtafeln (Color Panels, 1986–92), part of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s collection, the project brings together a group of alumni from the Rijksakademie and Kyveli Mavrokordopoulou (curator, lecturer and researcher, art history & environmental humanities, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) to examine pigments as part of larger stories of trade, illness, colonialism, and environmental violence. The project will culminate in a public presentation at the Rijksakademie.

Mavrokordopoulou began by presenting the 1986 German pavilion to the group. Besides introducing the space and constituents of Athanor, Mavrokordopoulou foregrounded Sigmar Polke’s affinity with themes of toxicity and radioactive substances—her own principal research interests—evident in works such as Uranium Green (1982). Accompanying her presentation of Polke’s biennale solo was a copy of the exhibition’s catalogue, a rare object that is better described as an artist book. Eschewing the traditional format of artwork documentation, the ethereal images that populate it capture curious details, shadows, and angles of the pavilion prior to the show’s erection, viewed through the hazy effects of the processing Polke deployed. As we sat, paging through, the photographs reminiscent of experimental chemistry, digital slides on the presentation screen depicting the crystalline rocks that are central to this artistic research project drew our eyes with their hues. 

This set the scene for each of the participating artists to introduce their own research ideas surrounding Athanor and the series of Farbtafeln that are part of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam’s permanent collection, which followed Polke’s monochrome paintings of pure pigments from the biennale. Troubling Pigments (after Polke) departs from this second series of large-scale colour field works and, although fluid, follows thematic paths aligning with the three artists’ ideas; broadly, the interwoven issues of toxicity, labour and material origins. Fransisca, García and Yilmaz each shared some of their artistic background, situating their project proposals as well as intimating what kinds of knowledge might aggregate during the process.