Man looking down, outside on the balcony of Tate Modern, after seeing the Martin Kippenberger exhibition

Martin Kippenberger, you have always been cool, not just after you died

Martin Kippenberger’s first retrospective in the UK is at Tate Modern until the 14th of May and definitely worth a visit. It’s a great opportunity to see the diverse range of the late hyperactive contemporary artist . The German artist’s work encompasses painting, prints, books, drawing, installation and sculpture that draw on countless subjects, from popular culture to questioning authenticity within art.

His installation, The Happy End of Kafka’s Amerika, is fantastic! The concept is based on Franz Kafka’s unfinished novel Amerika, where the main character travels across the country to apply for a job at the ‘biggest theatre in the world’. Kalfka abandoned the novel, but it was published after his death in 1927. I’m dubious about Kippenberger never actually reading the book, he just heard the story from a friend, and claimed the unfinished novel leaves possibilities open for a ‘happy ending’... but I guess it doesn't really matter if he read the book or not (is it kind of cheating?).

Kippenberger’s installation is different pieces of furniture set out on playing turf. The ‘match’ is arranged between imaginary employers and job seekers across quirky interview stations. It can be interpreted in countless ways, but I find the invisible dialogue it creates, different at each table, hugely interesting as it suggests such a range of personalities.

This is what I thought about after seeing the Kippenberger exhibition at Tate Modern:
1. Is Martin Kippenberger REALLY one of the most influential artists of the last 30 years? Or do I just accept that because the Tate says so?
2. Does the question: 'Why do artists only become famous after they die?' go hand in hand with the cliché: starving artist? I mean do you have to be poor and drunk and reckless as an artist and then die to get recognised?
3. Why doesn’t it say within the exhibition, how Kippenberger dies? (he died in 1996, aged 44, from liver cancer) Did I miss that?
3. Why can’t you walk through The Happy End of Kafka’s Amerika? (You can only walk around it, even if it does go with the set on playing turf/ view as spectator idea, I want to walk through it!