Joachim Kupke

Life and Art

From 1965 to 1967 Joachim Kupke attended the Art School A.L. Merz in Stuttgart. Following this, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart with Rudolf Haegele (1967-1972).

His studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart were followed by a prolonged period of study in the United States. There he worked on a series of photographs showing people in everyday situations. These became material for later work.

Working since 1972 as a freelance painter and graphic artist, Kupke became a Member of the [Association of Baden-Württemberg Artists] in 1980. At this time he also produced cartoons, which were published in magazines and newspapers including Playboy, Il Mago der Stuttgarter Zeitung and Pardon. On the publication of his first cartoon strip "Horror Sapiens " in 1977 Joachim Kupke was described as "Höllenfürst der Zeichenfeder" (The Prince of Darkness of the quill).

During this period Kupke produced drawings and oil paintings, which grappled with paintings and art forms in unfamiliar and unusual ways.

After a series of solo and group exhibitions, in 1981 Kupke received a grant from the Arts Foundation of Baden-Württemberg. This was followed by a stipend from the city Sindelfingen in 1986. In 1995 Joachim Kupke married Sarah Webb (born 1960 in Bedford, UK), the educationalist and actress. Sarah Kupke has lived in Sindelfingen since 1990, where she is the Head of the International School of Stuttgart, Sindelfingen Campus.

Work

"To begin with, Joachim Kupke’s work is near to photorealism, with a penchant for ludicrous, interconnected motives, seemingly surreal and yet representing the artist’s intrinsic questioning behind the concept of "original". Also, his constant exploration into the nature of modern 20th century art itself. (...) The paradox of "original and reproduction" is part of life and art for Joachim Kupke, and prompts his playful exploration of the concept of "originality". "

"Joachim Kupke’s works are created in an old master, realistic painting style. They use well-known works of art history, to which the artist feels an intimate relationship; a kind of kinship. They are not ironic re-creations or new creations. Rather, they have much more to do with the authenticity in what is represented and how it has been devaluated though mass media reproduction. Derived from our knowledge of the exponentially fragmentary nature of our perceptions and their connection with the widespread flood of pictures in all their reproduced manifestations, Kupke posits his technically brilliant commentary on art and art as art, about art.

This is also true for the nascent years of the series "Room in Delft ". In these paintings Joachim Kupke transformed into the present, in his own inimitable way, one of the most important painters of European art, Jan Vermeer."

Solo exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

Literature