A.R. Penck

A.R. Penck was a German neo-expressionist painter, sculptor, and printmaker, known for producing art that featured symbols, signs, and figures reminiscent of Primitive art, against a backdrop of censorship imposed by the German Democratic Republic.

Born Ralph Winkler in Dresden, the artist adopted the alias A.R. Penck, alongside others, after the East German State Security started a campaign of harassment against him.  His artwork was removed and studio destroyed after he refused to create propaganda content. Eventually he defected to the West, like many intellectuals, but also smuggled work across the border before doing so, with the help of the Cologne-based gallerist Michael Werner, with whom he continued to work until his death.

Settling in Cologne, Penck joined a group of neo-expressionist painters, where his paintings, complete with hallmark stickmen, beasts, birds and hieroglyphs, reached new heights of popularity. A methodologist, Penck referred to the visual language in his work as ‘standart’ and the practice of selecting which motifs to use and when as his ‘building block system’. Penck’s love for jazz also brought an added, lyrical dimension to his work. In later years, when his art enjoyed a revival, critics made more of being able to discern the legacy of his treatment in East Germany, conflict and war in his art. Penck’s work was shown widely throughout Europe and the US in his lifetime and today can be found in several prestigious institutions, including MOMA, the National Gallery of Art, Washington and the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.