German artist Martin Kippenberger uses aphorisms and slapstick humor to lampoon the contemporary art world as well as the politics, culture, and consumerism of his country. Often using himself as the subject of his satirical paintings, photographs, and sculptures, Kippenberger dares viewers to laugh at the sardonic and provocative statements made in his own brand of low comedy. A motorized pilot’s ejection seat continuously circles a railroad track enclosed by a fence from a soccer field in this installation created specifically for SFMOMA. Inescapably locked in its repetitive loop and pushed behind a makeshift barricade, the seat can be seen as a reflection of Kippenberger’s own fixed position as an artist in the public eye.
No brochure was produced for this exhibition. A catalogue was published by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1991.
Learn more about the New Work series.
Martin Kippenberger: New Work is generously supported by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Collectors Forum.