Martin Kippenberger

Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1985

Cologne, Max Hetzler Gallery, The I.N.P. Pictures (Is-Not-Embarassing Pictures), 1984, n.p., no. 8, illustrated

Exhibition Catalogue, Madrid, Museo National Centre de Arte Reina Sofia, Kippenberger: Pinturas, 2004-5, p. 116, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in good condition. There are a few networks of thin and stable hairline cracks throughout, and a thin hairline horizontal crack parallel to the top edge. Close inspection reveals a very light fold to the canvas towards the top left corner, and a few thin hairline cracks to the base of the thickest area of impastos, which appear to have been stabilised in places. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals a number of fluorescing spots in places, most notably to the bottom edge of the bottom right quadrant, and towards the centre of the left edge.
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Brimming with the humour, German cultural reference and the canny exploitation of popular imagery, the present work stunningly embodies the most lauded features of Kippenberger's celebrated oeuvre.  The painting Bibi-Tum, die denkende Hautcreme is part of a series completed by Kippenberger in 1984 and titled Die I.N.P. Bilder or The I.N.P. Paintings (Is-Not-Embarrassing Paintings), which referenced German cultural points of discomfort or embarrassment. The present work's title translates to Bibi-Tum: The Thinking Skin Cream, a charachteristically witty and biting jab at marketing attempts to convince buyers that mundane products possess superlative powers. The thickly applied, garishly cursive script indicts the advertiser's positive gloss, and appears across multiple I.N.P. paintings like a mocking brand.

 

The I.N.P. were fabricated in direct response to a Dahn and Dokoupil body of work and its accompanying exhibition catalogue Die Afrika-Bilder (the Africa pictures), which unabashedly mobilised stereotypical notions of Africa towards a highly exoticised depiction of the continent, replete with primitive frisson. Already captivated by the contradictions and hypocrisies of German culture, Kippenberger seized on this event to explore unexamined areas of ugliness in West German culture. Albert Oehlen has described Kippenberger's career-long preoccupation with shame: "The first thing in which we were involved jointly was the 1979 Elend [Wretchedness] exhibition, which Martin organized. 'Elend' was a word that fascinated us. The most popular painters at the time were 'aggressive', 'wild', 'spontaneous,' etc., all virtues that were quite in fashion for quite a long time but which didn't interest us. Embarrassment, wretchedness, failure were far more to our taste. They suggested a much larger plan than a simply 'behold the wild man'" (Albert Oehlen cited in: Ann Goldstein, 'The Problem Perspective' in: Exhibition Catalogue, Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art; New York, Museum of Modern Art, Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective, 2008-9, p. 69).