Author: Mallory Nezam
The work of world-renowned contemporary German artist Martin Kippenberger (1953-97), is making its first major retrospective exhibition in the U.S. The show is titled ‘The Problem Perspective’ and runs at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) from Sept. 21 to Jan. 5, 2009. Selections from Kippenberger’s entire career are featured in this premier exhibition: paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, multiples, posters, announcement cards, installations and books.
The content of the exhibit is a collection of Kippenberger’s life-long repertoire, communicating the inseparability of the artist’s life and his work, and explores what MOCA has termed on its Web site the “role of the artist in the culture and within the system of art”. The collection is a self-reflective commentary illuminating various roles that the artist’s cast upon himself as “impresario, entertainer, curator, collector, architect, and publisher” (http://www.moca.org/museum/exhibitiondetail.php?id=410).
MOCA, one of the most renowned contemporary art museums in the United States, clearly has its choice of a myriad of international artists, so why Kippenberger? “Kippenberger has somewhat of a cult-following,” wrote Nicole Davis, Associate Editor of Artnet Magazine. “You might even find an ‘I Heart Kippenberger’ bumper stickers slapped on the back of an old Volvo in Chelsea.” What really makes Kippenberger interesting, apart from his work, is his reputation as a wild soul who poured this energy into his work.
Davis describes him as the “mayor beatnik of Berlin . . . hero, degenerate, sexual deviant, dumb tourist, pathetic drunk, handsome movie star and sick and drowning man, like a wandering harlequin always subject to the whims of the audience . . . ” (http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/davis/davis3-10-05.asp)>.
Perhaps the most consistently interesting pieces to be considered are Kippenberger’s self-portraits. Kippenberger presents himself in dynamic and varied ways, including paint, pencil, sculpture, and installation. These pieces are particularly interesting in light of the many identities that Kippenberger seems to have inhabited.
Kippenberger was actively creating during the era of German Neo-Expressionism, a period undergoing gross transformation. This was also a time when Germany attempted to expunge memories of its role in the Second World War. Kippenberger was, as Davis further elucidates, “the greatest champion of his country’s attempts to break free from its past”. Political and necessarily personal, the show runs until right after the new year. Don’t miss one of the better exhibitions at one of the best museums for contemporary art.
After running at the L.A. MOCA, the exhibition travels to New York’s MoMA where it runs from Mar. 1 to May 11.
For tickets, directions, and the hours of MOCA go to http://www.moca.org/
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