This Guy is playing on Luxus
- Artist: Martin Kippenberger
- Date: 1979
- Medium: Lithograph on paper
- Dimensions: image: 355 x 216 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is “This Guy is playing on Luxus” by Martin Kippenberger. The lithograph was made in 1979 to promote the first single of his punk band, Grugas. The face you see is Akim Schaechtele, a fellow band member, rendered in a deliberately raw, almost caricature‑like style that captures the rebellious energy of the scene. Kippenberger was a true multidisciplinary artist—painter, sculptor, musician and writer—so his posters were an extension of his practice, blurring the line between advertising and art. He produced 178 posters in total, often on standard advertising sizes, and used them to market everything from exhibitions to parties. The “Luxus” poster sits here as a snapshot of his early career, before he began grouping his works into folios. The piece is a lithograph on paper, measuring roughly 355 × 216 mm, and it was purchased for the collection in 2005. It’s a playful yet pointed reminder of how Kippenberger turned everyday media into a platform for critique and humor.
See it in person
This Guy is playing on Luxus is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
