"Martin Kippenberger once proclaimed that he was the ultimate embodiment of the art of the 1980s and it is certainly true that his work was preoccupied with a number of artistic concerns prevalent at the time. He was a master appropriator who consistently absorbed, challenged and transformed the world around him. His work draws on popular culture, art, architecture, music, politics, history and his own life – where no subject remained sacred. Also reflective of the era was Kippenberger’s awareness of the importance of self-publicity. He was constantly reinventing himself and his art, and tirelessly controlled his image through press and marketing. He also felt that he was working in the face of a ‘perceived death of painting’ and his art reflects his struggle with the concept that, at the turn of the millennium, it was impossible to produce anything original or authentic."-Tate

"Kippenberger's artistic career—based in his native Germany but encompassing such far-flung locations as Florence, Madrid, Vienna, New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Syros, and the Yukon—was a twenty-year commitment to unrestrained excess. It began in the late 1970s, at a moment when the greatness of modern art seemed suddenly distant—a century-long celebration whose door was now closed to newcomers. Kippenberger's response was to create his own party and cast himself as an artist-jester whose antics both disguised and permitted a piercing analysis of contemporary art and society. The scores of posters he designed for his exhibitions begin to suggest the creative energy channeled into his thousands of works, including paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, prints, multiples, books, and recordings."-MoMA

Martin Kippenberger (b.1953) "led a brief but enormously productive and geographically varied life. Born in Germany, he studied art at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, but lived thereafter in Berlin, Florence, New York and Rio de Janeiro. Described as a Neo-Dadaist for his energetic irreverence, Kippenberger worked freely in several mediums, including painting, sculpture, and poster and book arts." -artnet