The Perfect Storm
Martin Kippenberger died in 1997, at age 44, but right before he left, he threw himself a death-at-sea in the form of “The Raft of the Medusa,” a series of 60-odd paintings, drawings, photographs and textiles in which the German artist portrays all the doomed figures in Theodore Gericault’s 1819 masterpiece Le Radeau de la Méduse. It’s not the most flattering of self-portraits, but it’s a memorable way to go out.
The comprehensive 1996 “Raft of the Medusa” series will be on view through April 26 at New York’s Skarstedt Gallery, 20 E. 79th Street.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
Martin Kippenberger, Untitled (from the series The Raft of Medusa), 1996. © Estate Martin Kippenberger, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Köln.
