![Martin Kippenberger. Untitled from the series Lieber Maler, male mir [Dear Painter, Paint for Me]. 1981](http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/312/w155h170/CRI_234312.jpg)
![Martin Kippenberger. Untitled from the series Lieber Maler, male mir [Dear Painter, Paint for Me]. 1981](http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/312/w155h170crop/CRI_234312.jpg)
German painter and sculptor. He studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Kunst in Hamburg, where Sigmar Polke, despite not teaching him directly, influenced him. Having worked first with painting, he also took up the media of sculpture, collage and photography, also producing installations. In 1979 Kippenberger exhibited at the Kunsthaus, Hamburg, titling his show Kommen, Kucken, Kaufen. In 1985 Kippenberger exhibited Buying America and Selling El Salvador at Metro Pictures Ltd in New York, a large installation comprising numerous sculptural works. In his crazy concoction of objects and images he called into question notions of order, rationality and the need for unity. Kippenberger’s strategy was to create works that are shocking, distasteful, embarrassing and disturbing. While at times they appear humorous or superficial, underneath this thin veneer lie serious questions regarding the moral responsibility of the artist, the values and beliefs of Western cultures and the nature of human destruction. In 1987 Kippenberger integrated a painting by Gerhard Richter, which he himself had purchased, into the top of a coffee table of particularly insipid design. Questions as to the social function of art, its value and status in comparison with the table were clearly being presented. Utilizing the original painting might also be interpreted as Kippenberger’s use of Richter merely as fodder for his own artistic pursuit, a joke at Richter’s expense.
From Grove Art Online
© 2009 Oxford University Press