Gursky’s retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art this spring (now showing in Chicago) was just the latest achievement by this German photographer, ranked among the half-dozen most important art photographers now working. Galassi, MOMA’s chief photography curator, does an excellent job of tracing the artist’s influences and development in his engaging essay. Moreover, the illustrations of work by his mentors, especially Bernd and Hilla Becher, as well as of his own early work, commercial work, and school projects, are highly informative. The 59 large-format plates (48 of them from the 1990s) forming the catalog that follows concentrate on his mature themes: massive and empty modern buildings, crowded public spaces filled with frenetic, impersonal activity, and landscapes that most often look at a built topology. The combination of his unique, painterly use of the camera and his ability to capture the beehive of contemporary society (whether the images are occupied or not) rightfully have earned him his current position. This best available overview is highly recommended for all libraries. Eric Bryant, “Library Journal”
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

The interview book „Kippenberger & Friends“ comes closer to uncovering Kippenberger the myth, through 25 conversations with artists, curators, gallerists, and friends who contributed approx. 55 documentary photographs from their personal archives, published for the first time. They give us their view on someone who left a lasting impression on them, in descriptions that are contemplative, funny, critical, and also self-ironic. The extremely personal memories bring to life not only Kippenberger himself; they also create a dense picture of the cultural life in a Germany which, torn between the sensationalist Springer press and student revolts, the hedonistic consumer culture of yuppies and the provocative rebellion of the punk scene, still had to become convinced of the maxims of its own actions. Josephine von Perfall started her doctorate degree on Martin Kippenberger in 2010 at the Department of History of Art at the University of Cambridge. The role he played in the development of post-war German art, in particular in his capacity as a “networker,” cannot, von Perfall asserts, be overestimated, and it is this role that is the key to understanding one of the most important chapters in German post-war art. Interviews with: Roland Augustine, gallerist, New York; Lukas Baumewerd, architect; Klaus vom Bruch, artist; Werner Büttner, artist; Gisela Capitain, gallerist, Cologne/Berlin; Zdenek Felix, curator; Max Hetzler, gallerist, Berlin; Carmen Knoebel/Brigitta Rohrbach, former innkeepers Ratinger Hof, Düsseldorf; Kasper König, museum director; Jutta Koether, artist; Christian Ludwig Attersee, artist; Helmut Middendorf, artist; Albert Oehlen, artist; Peter Pakesch, museum director; Friedrich Petzel, gallerist, New York/Berlin; Martin Prinzhorn, linguist; Achim Schächtele, former co-owner S.O.36, Berlin; Stephan Schmidt-Wulffen, rector New Design University, St. Pölten; Elfie Semotan, photographer and wife; Claudia Skoda, fashion designer; Helene Winer, gallerist, New York; Johannes Wohnseifer, artist; Michel Würthle, owner Paris Bar, Berlin; Bernd Zimmer, artist; Heimo Zobernig, artist