Wall Street - with Full Signature, 1993

Martin Kippenberger   Master Artists

Martin Kippenberger, born in 1953 in Dortmund and died in 1997 in Vienna, is a German artist known for his protean work and the sulphurous legend which surrounds his character. His artistic training began in 1972 at the Hamburg School of Fine Arts where he had Franz Erhard Walther as teacher. He is also a teacher at the School of Fine Arts in Cassel.

After his training the artist became a member of the Cologne art scene The artist is part of the neo-expressionist movement alongside Georg Baselitz and Joseph Beuys For these artists it is about expressing a subjective opinion, particularly on the dominant consumer society. He is involved in various artistic disciplines, namely painting, sculpture, installation and even engraving. Martin Kippenberger quickly became known for his provocative and political works. His first work entitled Uno di voi, a Tedesco in Firenze which is a pastiche of Gerhard Richter clearly shows his desire to adopt a marginal position as an artist Among his best-known works, we can cite Blass vor Neid steht er vor deiner Tür (1981) which is a series of 21 paintings or Martin, ab in die Ecke und scham Dich ( 1989) which is a statue where he represents himself itself in a self-critical form.

In 1978 the artist founded an office in Berlin in his name where he collected, exhibited and collaborated with other artists. It is here that the exhibition “Misère” was presented in collaboration with Werner Büttner, Walter Dahn and Georg Herold. Martin Kippenberger is also director of SO 36, a concert hall, which has hosted lively events such as concerts by Iggy Pop or Lydia Lynch.

Martin Kippenberger's works have been exhibited in more than a hundred personal exhibitions and published in around a hundred books and catalogs. Several public collections have also honored the artist. We can cite the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oslo or the MoMA in New York. In 2006 the Tate Modern in London organized a retrospective of his work.