A. R. Penck

° 1939

Born in DE.

A. R. Penck (the pseudonym of Ralf Winkler) is strongly influenced by the surroundings he grows up in and starts working as an artist. As a resident of East Germany (Penck lived in Dresden till 1980, when he moved to the West) he pays close attention to social structures and the relationships that take place within those structures.

By reducing the unmanageable abstractions to tangible multi-layered symbols, Penck strives to objectify the demonic, which he associates with an overly organised society, and create personal freedom.

The symbols are the product of Penck’s research into the expressive qualities of graphic elements from different eras, starting with cave art and African art, moving to contemporary, mathematical and technical symbols.

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