Klaus Peter Brehmer (Berlin, 1939 – 1997, Hamburg) studied at the Art Academy in Düsseldorf. He was part of the Kapitalistischer Realismus group (Capitalist Realism), founded in Düsseldorf in 1963 as a German response to Pop art from the United States and England. Committed to social and political questions, and highly critical of consumerist society, the group incorporated motifs from daily life into their works. Its members included Gerhard Richter, Konrad Lueg, Karl Horst Hödicke, Wolf Vostell and Sigmar Polke. Brehmer was one of the most politicised of the group and, since 1964, his left-wing political convictions found a direct expression when he renounced his name and went under the initials KP. The letters also alluded to the initials of the Kommunistische Partei (Communist Party), which had been officially banned in 1956. His works from that time critique consumerism and its power structures legitimised by the mass media. To democratise art, Brehmer opted for printing using photomechanical processes, with a large print run.

Solo exhibitions include Kunstverein, Hamburg (1971), Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (1998), Städtische Galerie, Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany (2004), Milliken Gallery, Stockholm (2009), Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville (2011) and Neues Museum, Nuremberg (2018). His works are in the collections of MoMA, New York; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; and MACBA, Barcelona.

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