A.R. Penck, 1939-1917 The German artist Ralf Winkler is best known for his work as A.R. Penck has died at the age of 77. His politically-charged, pitographic imagery was a highlight of his career. A.R. was part of a group post-war German artists, including Georg Baselitz, Markus Lupertz and Jorg Immendorff. Penck’s life spans more than fifty years. Penck was born in Dresden, Germany, in the German Democratic Republic. He developed a pictorial vocabulary he called ‘Standart’ in the 1960s. This used language, mathematics, and cybernetics to address political, social, and economic issues. Penck met Michael Werner in Dresden and would later smuggle the works to Cologne. This was where he received his first exposure outside the East German state. In 1971, he had his first solo museum show at Museum Haus Lange in Krefeld. However, he couldn’t travel beyond the GDR. He emigrated to West Berlin in 1980, from East to West Berlin. There he was associated with the ‘Neuen wilden’ (“New Savages”) group of artists. Their turn to an anarchic, neo-expressionist style of painting would become the hallmark of the 1980s. While Penck worked primarily as a painter, sculptor, Penck also wrote and played the drums for Triple Trip Touch. He was often in collaboration with jazz legends like Butch Morris and Frank Wright. He participated in Zeitgeist, a show that featured Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau and associated shows at London’s Royal Academy of Arts. The following year, his work was published in New Art (Tate), London. These major shows secured his international fame. He has had solo exhibitions at museums worldwide, including Kunsthalle Bern, Eindhoven, Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Gemeentemuseum (The Hague), The Irish Museum of Modern Art Dublin, Museo Rufino Tamajo, Mexico City, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, and Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. His works are in private and public collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, London’s Tate and Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Neue National Galerie Berlin; and Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. from https://artreview.com
