Kippenberger's massive body of work comprises drawings, paintings, posters, objects, books, and installations. His equally wide-ranging subject matter was drawn largely from contemporary life in Germany. His multilayered works humorously comment on politics, tradition, party culture, and art history. To make these collages, he paired fragments of printed reproductions of works by Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Lindner, and Robert Indiana with sections of German postcards, honoring these icons of American art history and bestowing their work with new interpretations.
Gallery label from Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, April 22, 2009–January 4, 2010.