7″ Single 'Pop In'

1989 - Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)
7 x 7 in.

Martin Kippenberger

year born: 1953

gender: male

nationality: German

7″ Single ‘Pop In’ by Martin Kippenbergher consisting of a vinyl record and a unique artwork drawn by the artist on the record’s sleeve. In the foreground of the album’s cover, a drawing of an empty, round vessel is framed underneath the text “POP IN”, suggesting an invitation to listen to the record, a nod to pop music, or perhaps a literal proposal to enter the vessel or the work. In the background, partly hidden by the round form, Kippenberger’s hand-drawn self portrait glares back at the viewer. Rather than an actual attempt at becoming a musician or to create music, this work presents a means to play and experiment within an expanded set of conditions: an opportunity to perform a different self, a musician, a drummer, a punk. 7″ Single ‘Pop In’ joins the flood of ephemera—books, catalogues, posters, invitation cards—that sprang from Kippenberger’s notion of ubiquity via artistic engagement, while at the same time revealing the kinship and affinity Kippenberger felt with the punk music enfants terribles of the time.

Martin Kippenberger is widely regarded as one of the most talented German artists of his generation. Although he was incredibly prolific in a diverse range of media—drawings, collage, sculpture, performance, painting, photography, installations, prints, ephemera.—his best-known works are paintings, many of them self-portraits. Kippenberger was a very polarizing figure, known by many for being a provocateur and for making politically charged work as artworld commentary. Often taking on different art historical tropes, his work tested the boundaries of authorship and originality. He was known to hire others to paint for him under a pseudonym, or use work by other artists to create new work. Examples include restaging a photograph of Pablo Picasso; turning a monochrome by Gerard Richter into a coffee table; and claiming an installation of his as the last chapter of an unfinished novel by Franz Kafka. One of his key concerns was to try to understand the artist’s place in the modern world, and how their essence and personality can become apparent in the objects that they create.