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this Martin Kippenberger exhibition "Very Good Sehr Gut"
is the first exhibition
in a major institution -- we are the National Gallery
here in Berlin
uh... since ever
he had some smaller exhibitions, let's say in Potsdam and there was
in the early eighties as well a very very small institution
Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst NGBK, but not more.
And because the situation in berlin
was in the eighties that there are not so many uh... art dealers here in Berlin
while now we are
you know, the hotspot of the art scene.
We start in our exhibition uh... with his time here in berlin. he lived in Berlin
from nineteen hundred seventy nine to nineteen hundred eighty one
these were the only two years, or two and a half years before he was in florence
but he came from florence to berlin
to become
uh...
a painter
but when he was here he decided: I am an artist, not only a painter because
we had always these big
painters and a painters tradition here in berlin uh... like the uh... Junge Wilde,
like Fetting, Salome and all this
and he was not interested in this kind of art
so he decided not to become a painter but to be an artist and what has an
artist to do, an artist has to offer
what he can do
so he offered
"Dienstleistungen", so he offered all the work
what you as well have nowadays from artists you know nowadays artists make their own
exhibitions, they create their own um... invitation card
they have the whole portfolio you know for
the things weren't done for the arts scene
and he was offerings this in nineteen seventy nine this was very very early so
he opened an office
the Kippenberger office, the Kippenberger Büro, which is very very famous
and this was at that time extremely unusual
and a new way very avant-garde, because nowadays artists are doing this.
You know if you ask about the Kippenberger Büro:
and in this office
he was doing everything he was managing the SO 36,
know this was his punk club
every evening he was over there, they invited a lot of artists and a lot of
musicians
uh... so he organized this from the Büro, from his office
here uh...
was producing his stickers
his uh... newspapers, you know he had a secretary in his office
this was Gisela Capitain
you know, and
he had to a lot of assistants and the main point you know what is now and what
we as well tell here, the major point
he decided not to paint his paintings himself
he said okay i want to have a cinema painter
they know how to paint
and i give them some motives
and he should paint the painting for me. The Kippenberger paintings are
not made by himself
by his hands, you know
he was delegating this
to another painter.
This series of paintings was not often shown, because it's extremely difficult
and expensive to install them
because you have to
to build up walls before the walls of the museum
and it's uh... and it's an unusual series
you know this is uh... not what people uh... are expecting of Kippenberger
you know Martin Kippenberger was well known
for all his very loud um... you know
for his shouting around and as well for
the big, big, uh... paintings
and he was not
well known, or many people don't know that he as well has another side
that he as well was very much reflecting
on the way how you present
paintings
what you have to do, you know, in an exhibition you have to uh... think about
it you know how can i present it, what i want to present
and this was the way he was thinking
and as well with these um...
very good paintings his white paintings, "Weisse Bilder"
he was reflecting
on all the theories
which are running through all the uh... twentieth century what does
it mean to
to work with painting of white or a painting of black
if you look, you know, in the twenties, thirties especially uh... in the fifties
many many art is well reflecting on the color
and often the color of nothing.