Kippenberg, Heidi

First name: 
Heidi
Initials: 
H.
Surname: 
Kippenberg
Year of birth: 
1941
Birthplace: 
Berlin
Country of birth: 
Germany
Working period: 
1968
CV: 

Heidi Kippenberg is born in Berlin May 13, 1941. In 1952 she moved with her family to Erlangen. She finished school in 1962. In the winter of 1962/63 she was an apprentice in the ceramics workshop of M. Kuch, Burghaun. Between 1963 and 1967 she studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts, Kassel (Prof. Röttger and Walter Popp*). In 1968 she opened her own workshop in Buch near Erlangen, at the same time teaching art at a grammar school for the arts. Between 1968 and 1982 she made various study trips to Colombia, England and Turkey. Between 1983 and 1988 her main focus of life and work shifted to Jamaica, temporarily working in a pottery there. In 1989 she came back to Germany. In 1991 a new kiln was constructed. In 1997 a six-month study visit to Japan was undertaken. In 2006 her new workshop is in Beerbach, Dietersheim.

* Walter Popp – Kassel School of Pottery / Kassel Art Academy                                                                                                                                                                    Heidi Kippenberg is a student of the ceramist Walter Popp. The style of her early works is strongly reminiscent of the style of Walter Popp, but in the meantime she has made works in many different styles. A continuous Kippenberg style can not be recognized until today, but a desire to experiment and create new forms using new techniques. Popp is one of the pioneers of abstract ceramics in Germany and is known for the use of brush painting on his vessels. Walter Popp’s most famous students are: Heidi Kippenberg, Antje Brüggemann-Breckwoldt, Ralf Busz, Ursula Gerke-Busz, Dieter Crumbiegel, Wolfgang Heyne, Konrad Quillmann, Robert Sturm, Fritz Vehring, Vera Vehring. Peter Lakotta. Walter Popp was the founder of the so-called Kassel School of Pottery, an artists’ collective at the Kunsthochschule Kassel. Popp was a university lecturer there from 1954 to 1977. Heidi Kippenberg assisted him at times.

From 10/09/2021 to 30/10/2021 an exhibition of works by Heidi Kippenberg will be on display at Brutto Gusto in Berlin. There will also be an exhibition catalog for this Heidi Kippenberg exhibition, which you can also buy on Amazon, for example:

Images: Heidi Kippenberg, portrait, beginning 1970s; bowl (source Colombos Auction).