Sigmar Polke, Michael Werner

Sigmar Polke, that prolific trickster of postwar German art, was one of the most important experimenters of the 20th century. From the '60s 'til his death in 2010, his humorous, clunky and deliberately relaxed style confronted Nazism head on, picking at the silence around German history. Unlike his great rival Gerard Richter or the morose and monumental Anselm Kiefer, Polke poked fun endlessly - at art, Germany, history but perhaps most of all himself.

After major Tate Modern and MoMA retrospectives, you can catch Polke's Pour Paintings in Mayfair this winter, at the Michael Werner gallery.

Polke is best known as a painter - but he pushed the medium to its limit, experimenting with method, content and materials. The large-scale works you'll see at Michael Werner are characterised by evocative reels of poured paint floating on a flat black background, sprinkled with minerals and splashed with chemicals. You can occasionally make out shapes and representational imagery. But, as with most things Polke, you're never quite sure were you stand. And all the better for it.