The monograph "Kühe und Zigaretten" (Cows and Cigarettes) is a captivating journey through the diverse facets of painter Jan-Hendrik Brinkmann's work. This comprehensive collection, featuring works from 2019 to 2024, explores the complexities of rural life in Germany, capturing its disruptions through a fusion of art and everyday culture, and revealing gaps and voids in the process. Brinkmann's works transform authentic photographic material into complex collages and montages. His artworks, oscillating between nostalgia and sarcasm, invite the viewer to explore, interpret, and reinterpret the depicted realities on multiple levels. With essays by Vicky Bargel, Nicole Giese-Kroner, Annekathrin Kohout, and Jochen Overbeck, this monograph expands the understanding of Brinkmann's work in contemporary art and its social significance.