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Girlfriends I

1967
(German, 1941–2010)
published by

edition h

Germany, 20th century
offset photolithograph
Sheet: 47.9 x 60.8 cm (18 7/8 x 23 15/16 in.); Image: 46 x 59 cm (18 1/8 x 23 1/4 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.96
© Artists Right Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Becker & von der Ostern 3
Edition: 150
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Description

In Girlfriends I, Sigmar Polke enlarged an image from popular culture to the point where the halftone pattern is not only visible but competes with the bold women for our attention. In addition to conveying the tones of the photographic image, the halftone here became a symbol of mass media and consumer culture itself. The pattern’s primary job is to trick our eyes into seeing a photographic image with a full range of grays, not a busy field of black dots. But for the artist and many others working in the 1960s, the halftone took on a more layered meaning.
Girlfriends I

Girlfriends I

1967

Sigmar Polke, edition h

(German, 1941–2010)
Germany, 20th century

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