Martin Kippenberger

Martin Kippenberger is a German artist. Kippenberger's style of work is very varied, he never settled for using just one medium, this resulted him producing various unique art pieces. He produced many pieces on paper, and some of his pieces were paintings and photographs. Kippenberger's most common style of art is Conceptual Art. He produced a handful of self-portraits, some of which are more realistic. In some pieces, such as a self-portrait titled 'Alcohol Torture', Kippenberger has used a range of crimson tones to reflect the mood of the piece, the red tones in this particular painting may represent anger and suffering. Most of his artwork he produced using oil on canvas; however in some of his paintings, he branched out to using spray paints and silicone on canvas, which allowed him to produce a variety of different paintings.Many of his works are abstract and colorful, although some are more realistic and heavily detailed. Kippenberger was an extremely influential artist throughout the 1980's and the 1990's. He rose alongside Joseph Beuys and Georg Baselitz, they were all a part of the Neo-Expressionist movement.Martin Kippenberger mastered the craft of being shocking, yet inciting enough things that struck the heart strings with too deep a resonance to be dismissed. He painted graphic sex scenes in metaphor, and literally. He painted self portraits that were self deprecating and honest, depicting him with fat rolls, and a defeated posture, with his underwear pulled up comically high. Mocking the masculinity portrayed by Picasso in a well known photograph of him. As a contemporary artist, Martin Kippenberger pushed the envelope of the accepted art paradigm. He used anything and everything that was available. Kippenberger is also hailed as an installation and conceptual artist. He doubled briefly as a musician, while dabbling in a punk band he formed in the late 1970's called the Grugas. His portfolio includes photographs, installations, prints, works on paper, paintings, sculpture, music. He did a series of drawings using stationary from hotel paper. His lack of a chosen medium or a style depicts him as a restless, and ultimately unsettled. Martin Kippenberger’s work has been on display on the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Tate Modern.