Martin Kippenberger

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/martin-kippenberger/martin-kippenberger-biography

Words in this article are taken from Yusef Sayed essay found in https://227lears.com/2021/02/10/unconventional-redemption

Martin Kippenberger (25 February 1953 – 7 March 1997) was a German artist and sculptor known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media, superfiction as well as his provocative, jocular and hard-drinking public persona.

“Art is, in fact, always viewed after the fact, from outside, seldom at the moment it’s created – I’d say twenty years after. After that, one finally determines what effect the work and the artist had. How people then will talk about me, or won’t talk about me, that’s what will count.” 

– Martin Kippenberger

Kippenberger’s reputation has only grown since his death in 1997 at the age of 44. Often overlooked for prestigious exhibitions that showcased the works of his peers both in Europe and America during his lifetime – and seen by some as more of a prankster than someone to be taken seriously – his work is now part of museum collections worldwide and the subject of hugely successful retrospectives, notably The Problem Perspective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2009.

Through his use of caustic humour, wordplay, historical references, idiosyncratic recurring motifs, autobiographical elements and an enthusiasm for repurposing a vast array of media and everyday objects, Kippenberger left an enormous body of work – much of which was made with the help of assistants, students and friends, regularly turning out several paintings, or multiples each day.

Yusef Sayed goes into further detail in his essay and he does an incredible job but I will say this about Martin Kippenberger is fantastic and an inspiration. I love his covers for the Manics singles and I remember owning them and the covers add a mythos to the band.
I love the fact Martin Kippenberger is controversial. I am an atheist and in my world there are no sacred cows, prophets or divine retribution I need to be afraid of just other human beings.
If there is one tenet of religious behaviour I will admit I have a liking for is the idea of Karma which everyone should adhere to.
https://artoridiocy.blogspot.com/2008/08/jesus-frogging-christ.html
The crucified frog is right up my street.

I absolutely adore this piece of work and it is exactly the sort of approach I am looking for in my own work.