A HEAVY drinker, who eventually died of liver disease, is having his first exhibition in Spain.
The late German artist Martin Kippenberger – dubbed the most talented artist of his generation – was “consistently, gleefully, sexist, pugilistic, loud, obnoxious, cruel, autocratic, drunk or hungover,” according to an obituary in the Independent newspaper.
The artist, who has an exhibition at Malaga’s Picasso Museum, was also known to spend his money on “parties, whores and punk bands.”
He boasted that he would “rather be known as a drinker, than an artist.”
At one of his shows he got girls to dress up as American cheerleaders, with none of their skirts or tops quite fitting. The artist, who also bizarrely owned an Italian restaurant in California, died in 1997.
But his work lives on in this amazing exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures, which all coincidentally reflect the artist’s interest in Picasso.
The exhibition runs from 22 February to 29 May 2011.
I am really looking forward to seeing this exhibition. For me Kippenberger is the Charles Bukowski of the art world, a drunken, offensive genius with a lot to say and a brilliant way of saying it.