On pages 154-155 Josephine von Perfall told us something about her new book on the German artist Martin Kippenberger. This is the english translation of  her article:

The Mutable Radical

The German artist Martin Kippenberger died in 1997. He was born in Dortmund in 1953 and would have turned 60 on 25 February 2013. His works now enjoy international acclaim and are a firm fixture in the world’s most important collections and museums. Today, as in the past, the question of his significance provokes lively discussion: hailed as the Beuys of the 1980s, a German Warhol or Picabia’s heir, he is known as both a dilettante and genius, an enfant terrible and provocateur, a networker and visionary.

Almost completely ignored by the art world for decades, he constantly strove for the recognition which was only accorded him by a small circle. Merciless in his criticism, he spared no joke and would shy no provocation in sounding out his limits and those of his opposite numbers. The professional self-promoter knew how to showcase his art and life better than anyone else, at the same time always making new demands of contemporary art. The cogs never stopped turning. Kippenberger spared neither himself nor others. His intense life and his extremely diverse oeuvre are testament to this.

As a book of interviews and photos, Kippenberger & Friends explores the Kippenberger legend in 26 interviews with artists, curators, art dealers and friends. It includes around 100 documentary photos from the personal collections of friends, published for the first time. Thoughtfully, humorously, critically and self ironically, we are given an insight into someone who never inspired indifference. And it’s not only Kippenberger who comes to life in the highly personal recollections. We are given a detailed picture of the cultural scene in a Germany torn between the Springer press and student revolts, hedonistic consumer culture and provocative rebellion.

Josephine von Perfall has been working on her doctorate on Martin Kippenberger at the Department of History of Art at Cambridge University since 2010. The role he played as an artist and particularly as a “networker” for the development of post-war German art cannot – according to her hypothesis – be overestimated and is the key to understanding a key chapter of this art.

Author Josephine von Perfall

Photography Courtesy of Distanz Verlag

Order your copy of issue 4 at mag@horstundedeltraut.com!