A.R. Penck: 8 Erfahrungen

A. R. Penck was born Ralf Winkler in 1939 in Dresden, Germany. A self-taught painter, printmaker, sculptor, and jazz drummer, he was known for his neo-expressionist figurative works, often employing stick figures and graphic icons reminiscent of cave paintings, Asian calligraphy and graffiti.

In the 1980s, he became known for his paintings with pictographic, neo-primitive imagery of human figures and other totemic forms that used simple and archaic symbols, such as traffic signs or trademarks. In this set of eight woodcuts titled 8 Erfahrungen, translating to 8 Experiences, Penck depicts a range of cryptic, evocative studies that reference early cave art and modern portraiture. The woodcut technique, which is the oldest known printmaking technique with roots in China, has a rich history in Europe and especially Germany, where it was mastered by Albrecht Dürer in the 1400s and then reclaimed in the 1900s by other artists like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Käthe Kollwitz, Emil Nolde and Joseph Beuys.

After a significant period trying to remain working in East Germany under various pseudonyms during the Cold War, A.R. Penck eventually fled west to avoid continued harassment from the police for his dissident views, which came to a head after his studio was raided and destroyed. After fleeing East German and splitting time between West Berlin, London, Dublin and New York, his career flourished and his work was included in the groundbreaking Zeitgeist show (1982) at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, A New Spirit in Painting (1981) at the Royal Academy of Arts; and New Art (1983) at the Tate in London. He was also included in the 1984 Venice Biennale, as well as in four subsequent editions of Documenta in Kassel, Germany. His works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, among others. Penck passed away in 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland at the age of 77.