Martin KippenbergerNeo-expressionism

Background• Born 25 February 1953,Germany• Family moves to Essen• Spent six years at strict school and

shows great artistic talent from a young age.

• Dreams of being dancer• Drops out of school• Fired from first job for drug taking• Goes to therapy at a farm near

Hamburg and is cured• Goes to the Hamburg Art academy,

quits after 16 semesters• Dreams of being an actor• Known for wild range of style’s and

media, as well as hard-drinking persona.• Died aged 44 from liver cancer in 1997

Inspiration

• Art• Architecture• Music• politics• history • his own life• Kafka, “Amerika”

The Happy ending of Franz Kafka, America 1972

• Based on Kafka’s novel America • ‘a circus in town, looking to employ reliable hands, helpers, doers, self-

confident handlers and the like. Outside the circus tent, in my imagination, there would be tables and chairs set up for job interviews’- Kippenberger

• “You develop a gaze so that you can discover it for yourself.”

InfluencesAfter being asked “which artist do you feel close to” Kippenberger replied “whenever I see an artist that

is good looking, I feel drawn because I figure the head perfectly matches the work. But of course that can be boring. Giacometti was very good looking, his sculptures were very good looking, but I still feel there’s

something missing.”

“As far as Léger goes, I like him absolutely.”“… And Zobernig, I like him a lot. Everyone feels drawn to the remarkable things in life”

Neo-Expressionism

What is it?

• Modern style of painting and sculpture that began in the late 1970’s

• A reaction against conceptual and minimalistic art of 1970’s

Where did it come from?German expressionist painters such as..

Emil NoldeThe Prophet 1912

Head with pipe, self portrait 1907

George Grosz• Republican automations 1920

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner• Erna 1930

What did it look like?

Fancis bacon

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Albert Oehlen black rationality 1982

Influence

Albert Oehlen descending hot rays

Martin KippenbergerU.N Building the home of peace 1984

Collaboration albert oehlen and martin kippenberger

capri by the night 1982

Kippenberger’s key works

Leiber Maler, male mir [dear painter, paint for me] 1981

• Kippenberger hired a sign painter from Berlin to make paintings based on images he supplied. This being one of his favourite topics

• Series introduces other favourite topics; equal treatment of commodities ,brashness, culture

and himself• Kippenberger is in two of the

painting’s however partly disguised, you can only see the back of him in this piece and seen from a distance in the other.

Leiber Maler, male mir [dear painter, paint for me]

Heavy Bruschi [Heavy guy]

• Kippenberger asked assistant to make images from all his catalogues

• Was unhappy with unfinished canvas’ so had them photographed, printed to original size and then framed

• He destroyed originals and presented them in skip

• Creating an idea of relationship between employer and employee

• Creates a violent seen of destruction that mocks cultural, political and spiritual rebirth, by creating a loop.

• Making the pictures ‘into a kind of double kitsch’

Iinstallation der Weissen Bilder[ installation of the white painter] 1993

• A series of white paintings on canvas• Canvases embedded in wall to look

like part of the gallery walls• Based on a question and answer

between kippenberger and a young boy who described kippenberger’s work with positive answers ‘sehr gut’ or very good

• These descriptions were transferred onto canvas in white paint

• Installation is made up of 10 paintings in 5 different sizes

• Critises the plain white gallery spaces that exhibit conceptual art

Why Kippenberger is a significant artist in 20th/21st century

• He produced a wide range of work from the mid 1970’s using a remarkable range of media and never sticking to one particular style.

• Irony he created in his work by questioning his subjects.

• His bold concept's behind his work and re-occurring themes such as1. Playing with the idea that the artist is an individual who’s work is independent 2. Criticizing society, politics, work relationships

• His performative personality