-
Martin Kippenberger
Jetzt geh ich in den Birkenwald, denn meine Pillen wirken bald, 199129 artificial birches (rolls of cardboard and plastic, black & white offset print), metal stands, wooden pillsDimensions variableB-MKIPPENBERGER-.25-0001Further images
Martin Kippenberger’s (b. 1953; d. 1997) Birkenwald (1990) composes a field of upright birch trunks arranged in an irregular rhythm that evokes the presence of mute, standing figures. Their scale...Martin Kippenberger’s (b. 1953; d. 1997) Birkenwald (1990) composes a field of upright birch trunks arranged in an irregular rhythm that evokes the presence of mute, standing figures. Their scale and spacing shape a spatial encounter in which the viewer senses orientation shifting with each step. The addition of medication tablets scattered across the ground heightens the emotional register of the installation, giving the ensemble an atmosphere of fragility and bodily strain. Kippenberger used the forest as both an image and a stage, creating an environment charged with humour, tension, and unease.
The trunks carry suggestions of posture and attitude, yet retain the directness of found material. Their slight contortions introduce a sense of interruption or wear, lending the installation its specific psychological force. Birkenwald embodies Kippenberger’s talent for shaping emotional registers through abrupt, material gestures, an approach in which humour and vulnerability coexist within a single sculptural language.Provenance
Estate of Martin KippenbergerExhibitions
Jetzt geh ich in den Birkenwald denn meine Pillen wirken bald, Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, FEB 10–MAR 7 1990 *(FIRST VERSION)
New Work (Put Your Eye In Your Mouth), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, JUN 13–AUG 25 1991
Tiefes Kehlchen / Deep Throat, Topographie I, Wiener Festwochen 91, Vienna, SEP 26–NOV 11 1991 *(THIRD VERSION)
Martin Kippenberger, Metro Pictures, New York, MAR 7–APR 4 1992
Das 2. Sein. Werke aus der Sammlung Grässlin, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein, Potsdam, JUN 5–JUL 31 1994 *(THIRD VERSION)
MAI 98. Positionen zeitgenössischer Kunst seit den 60er Jahren, Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, MAY 21–JUL 19 1998 *(THIRD VERSION)
Martin Kippenberger. Das 2. Sein, ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe, FEB 8–APR 27 2003
Nach Kippenberger / After Kippenberger, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NOV 22 2003–FEB 1 2004; Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna JUN 12–AUG 31 2003 *(THIRD VERSION)
Martin Kippenberger. The Problem Perspective, The Museum of Modern Art, New York MAR 1 2009–MAY 11 2009
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, SEP 21 2008–JAN 1 2009
taking place. The Temporary Stedelijk at the Stedelijk Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, AUG 28 2010–JAN 9 2011
Martin Kippenberger. A Cry for Freedom, Museum of Cycladic Art, Nicholas and Dolly Goulandris Foundation, Athens, OCT 9 2013–JAN 26 2014
Unter der Erde. Von Kafka bis Kippenberger, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, APR 5 2014–AUG 10 2014
Martin Kippenberger, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, Vienna, SEP 8–NOV 27 2016
Body Check. Martin Kippenberger – Maria Lassnig, Lenbachhaus, Munich, May 21–Sep 15 2019
Publications
T.K. (D.T.) Topographie I: Festraum. Martin Kippenberger. Tiefes Kehlchen, Wiener Festwochen,
Vienna, 1991 (texts: Wolfgang Bauer, Ursula Pasterk, Martin Prinzhorn), 2 (ill.).
Ohrt, Roberto, Kippenberger, Angelika Taschen and Burkhard Riemschneider (eds.),
Cologne 1997 (German/ English/ French),162–163,166 (ill.).
Neuburger, Susanne, "It seen, I‘ve sawn too deep..." Association and Dissociation in
Martin Kippenberger‘s Tiefes Kehlchen, in: Nach Kippenberger/ After Kippenberger, Eva
Meyer-Hermann and Susanne Neuburger (eds.), Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung
Ludwig Wien, Vienna, and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Vienna 2003 (interview with
Pauhof architects, 164–167.)
Martin Kippenberger. Das 2. Sein, Götz Adriani (ed.), ZKM Museum für Neue Kunst,
Karlsruhe; Cologne 2003 133–135 (ill.).
Martin Kippenberger. The Problem Perspective, organized by Ann Goldstein, The Museum
of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Cambridge/ London 2008, 182–183 (ill.).
Martin Kippenberger. A Cry for Freedom, Museum of Cycladic Art in collaboration
with NEON, Athens (Greek/English), 35 (ill.)
Unter der Erde. Von Kafka bis Kippenberger, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen
(ed.), Düsseldorf; Dortmund 2014, 144; 126–131 (ill.)
Martin Kippenberger. XYZ, Ingried Brugger and Lisa Ordner-Kreil (eds.), Bank Austria
Kunstforum Wien, Vienna; Cologne 2016, 153 (no. 30).
