Book Description

On 26 February 2003 Martin Kippenberger would have turned fifty. In commemoration of his birthday, the gallerist Max Hetzler has dedicated a book to him. "Gitarren, die nicht Gudrun heißen" rekindles our memories of an enfant terrible of the art world and explores the oeuvre of this outstanding artist, who died six years ago. Artists, critics, art historians and authors have written a series of highly personal testimonies to Martin Kippenberger, who was a friend, a role model and a source of irritation all in one. Albert Oehlen tells of the intense artistic debate that began at the Hamburg Art Academy in the late 1970s and persisted even after both artists had moved off in different stylistic directions. Peter Pakesch recalls his encounter in the 1980s with Kippenberger the "utopian campaigner", and explains how the artist was driven by his boundless desire to grapple with the world, with whatever company he was keeping, and above all with art. As the artist's former assistant, Merlin Carpenter describes the "Kippenberger system" through which all manner of alien ideas and creativity were constantly ploughed into Kippenberger's artistic production. Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen examines how public discourse forged the identity of this artist, who declared that role-playing and strategy were crucial components of his perception of art. For his part, Martin Prinzhorn wonders what place should be given to a body of art that has become so indistinguishable from the persona of the artist, but which at the same time appears almost to vanish inside the most diverse artistic identities. Elusive but omnipresent, Martin Kippenberger appears to his friend Mayo Thompson in a dream as a restless spirit who, as Werner Buttner says, couldn't even have resisted mocking his own funeral-"He would have turned that into art, too". Or, to use Rainald Goetz's words: "Ego-apotheosis: whoosh and away." Martin Kippenberger's vivid presence in the thoughts and writings of his friends is matched by the forceful presence of his work throughout this publication. Pictures, invitation cards, catalogues, snapshots-the book's design compounds this path through the labyrinth of his artistic output and lends Martin Kippenberger physical and visual presence on every page.