Martin Kippenberger Untitled 1990 wood, latex, cotton. 66.9 x 111.8 x 22.8 cm (26 1/3 x 44 x 9 in). This work isunique andfrom a series of three differently coloured works.
Provenance Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne Thomas Amann Fine Art AG, Zurich Spatium Gallery, Caracas Catalogue Essay No subject was too insignificant or absurd for the controversial and ironic effant terrible of German contemporary art, Martin Kippenberger Whether it was a trip to the dentist, his own drunken antics or even an old sock, Kippenberger tackled all subjects in his art equally and always with his typical comic and absurd slant. The present lot, entitled Badewanne (Bathtub), is a latex sculpture of the negative space of a bath tub from which a clenched fist defiantly emerges from the water. The clenched fist, a highly charged motif immediately recognizable as a symbol of protest in relation to racial injustice, is subverted by Kippenberger. Like Maurizio Cattelan a fellow art world prankster who must have been influenced by the present lot when he created his acclaimed performance entitled Mother at the 1999 Venice Biennale (in which a Fakir was buried with only his hands emerging in prayer from the ground), Kippenberger adroitly comments on our modern society with undeniable humour and wit. Perhaps this fist can be seen as the artist's hand thrusting up from the jaws of death in a darkly humorous last rite of refusal. Whatever the meaning or intent, Badewanne powerfully conveys the depth of Kippenberger's struggle to come to terms with himself and compulsion to stage that battle as a communicative act. "I am not a ‘real' painter, nor a ‘real' sculptor, I only look at all that from the outside and sometimes try my hand at it, trying to add my own particular spice. I'm not interested in provoking people, but only in trying to be consoling. I always think of the things I do, quite unambiguously, as truly living vehicles. Assuming roles is something that simply won't work for me, since I don't have a style. None at all. My style is where you the individual and where a personality is communicated through actions, decisions, single objects and facts, where the whole draws together to form a history."(M. Kippenberger, interviewed by Jutta Koehler, Flash Art, 1990) Read More
Martin Kippenberger Untitled 1990 wood, latex, cotton. 66.9 x 111.8 x 22.8 cm (26 1/3 x 44 x 9 in). This work isunique andfrom a series of three differently coloured works.
Provenance Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne Thomas Amann Fine Art AG, Zurich Spatium Gallery, Caracas Catalogue Essay No subject was too insignificant or absurd for the controversial and ironic effant terrible of German contemporary art, Martin Kippenberger Whether it was a trip to the dentist, his own drunken antics or even an old sock, Kippenberger tackled all subjects in his art equally and always with his typical comic and absurd slant. The present lot, entitled Badewanne (Bathtub), is a latex sculpture of the negative space of a bath tub from which a clenched fist defiantly emerges from the water. The clenched fist, a highly charged motif immediately recognizable as a symbol of protest in relation to racial injustice, is subverted by Kippenberger. Like Maurizio Cattelan a fellow art world prankster who must have been influenced by the present lot when he created his acclaimed performance entitled Mother at the 1999 Venice Biennale (in which a Fakir was buried with only his hands emerging in prayer from the ground), Kippenberger adroitly comments on our modern society with undeniable humour and wit. Perhaps this fist can be seen as the artist's hand thrusting up from the jaws of death in a darkly humorous last rite of refusal. Whatever the meaning or intent, Badewanne powerfully conveys the depth of Kippenberger's struggle to come to terms with himself and compulsion to stage that battle as a communicative act. "I am not a ‘real' painter, nor a ‘real' sculptor, I only look at all that from the outside and sometimes try my hand at it, trying to add my own particular spice. I'm not interested in provoking people, but only in trying to be consoling. I always think of the things I do, quite unambiguously, as truly living vehicles. Assuming roles is something that simply won't work for me, since I don't have a style. None at all. My style is where you the individual and where a personality is communicated through actions, decisions, single objects and facts, where the whole draws together to form a history."(M. Kippenberger, interviewed by Jutta Koehler, Flash Art, 1990) Read More
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
