KP Brehmer
Selbst­b­ildnis

From 1960 onwards, Brehmer replaced his bourgeois first name Klaus Peter with the abbreviation KP – a reference to the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which was banned in 1956 and expressed Brehmer’s critical attitude towards social and political structures. The importance of his political convictions in Brehmer’s self-image can be seen, among other things, in the etching Selbstbildnis from 1971. Following René Block’s invitation to develop a self-portrait for the special edition of the publication Grafik des Kapitalistischen Realismus (EB31), Brehmer places the boldly designed black letters KP under the drawn portrait of his head in miniature size, which function both as an artistic signature and a political statement.
Text: Katrin Seemann