Martin Kippenberger

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Martin Kippenberger (b. 25 February 1953 in Dortmund- d. 7 March 1997 in Vienna) was an influential German artist whose penchant for mischievousness made him the focus of a generation of German enfants terribles including Albert Oehlen and Markus Oehlen, Georg Herold[1], Dieter Göls, and Günther Förg. His work experimented with polemical ideas; and in a rush to execute every sort of image that occupied his thoughts he made a mark on the art world of the 1990s. The flow of paintings he produced was punctuated with works that were conceptual and often controversial. His obsessive pursuit of polemics often left a trail of offence; he once produced a sculpture of a toad being crucified called "Fred the Frog Rings the Bell". His art is related to the German art movement Neue Wilde (de:Neue Wilde).

His work was shown in the Venice Biennale in 1988 and 2003, and in the Documenta in 1997. He took part at the groupeexhibition Von hier aus − Zwei Monate neue deutsche Kunst in Düsseldorf in 1984. An exhibition of his work was shown at the Tate Modern in 2006. Part of Martin Kippenberger's oeuvre will be presented in a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 2008; the exhibition will travel to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, thereafter.

He was a member of the Lord Jim Lodge.