biography
A.R. Penck, born 1939 in Dresden, belongs to the best-known German artists.
Painter, draughtsman and sculptor at the same time, he remains largely self-taught, as his applications for admission to the academies of Dresden and East Berlin were rejected. During his apprenticeship as a commercial artist, he took part in private evening painting courses with Strawalde.
Penck's psychograph-like stick figures, reminiscent of prehistoric signs, depict human sensitivities at the end of the 20th century in extremely reduced form.
A standard vocabulary of archetypal abbreviations is varied with large brushstrokes to illustrate the epochal continuity of human primal fears. After the initial diagrammatic schematics, the spectrum of images expands in the 1980s with striking colour accents and large, complexly filled picture formats. Sculptures made of wood and bronze transfer the repertoire into the three-dimensional spatial effect.
His works have been shown at various institutions such as Städelsches Kunstinstitut (Frankfurt), The Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museum für Moderne Kunst (Frankfurt), Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), The British Museum (London), The Phillips Collection (Washington) and the Musée de l’Art Modene de la Ville Paris.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
A. R. Penck: Pictures From The Ice Age, Neues Museum Nürnberg, Nurnberg
2022
A. R. Penck, Museum Jorn, Silkeborg
2021
A. R. Penck, Museo d’Arte di Mendrisio, Mendrisio
2020
A.R. Penck, Kunstmuseum, The Hague
2019
A.R. Penck, Albertinum, Dresden
2014
A.R. Penck, British Museum, London
2013
A.R. Penck, Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf
A.R. Penck, Internationale Sculptuur Biennale, Amsterdam
2012
A.R. Penck, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich
A.R. Penck, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen
A.R. Penck, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf
A.R. Penck, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart
2010
A.R. Penck, Musée Maillol, Paris
A.R. Penck, Kunsthalle, Rostock
Zukunft, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
2009
A.R. Penck, The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.
A.R. Penck, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester
A.R. Penck, Museum Weserburg, Bremen
2008
A.R. Penck, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris
2007
A.R. Penck, Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design, Nuremberg
A.R. Penck, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt
A.R. Penck, Kunsthalle, Kiel
2006
A.R. Penck, Museum of Modern Art, New York
2005
A.R. Penck, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
2004
A.R. Penck, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
A.R. Penck, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt
2003
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
A.R. Penck, Museum Küppersmühle Sammlung Grothe, Duisburg
2002
A.R. Penck, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
2000
A.R. Penck, Georg-Kolbe-Museum, Berlin
A.R. Penck, Foundation for Sculpture, Berlin
1999
A.R. Penck, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S. A., Luxembourg
1992
A.R. Penck, Documenta 9, Kassel
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
1995
A.R. Penck, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
1991
A.R. Penck, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
A.R. Penck, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin
1989
A.R. Penck, Mary Boone Gallery, New York
1988
A.R. Penck, Nationalgalerie, Berlin
A.R. Penck, Staatliche Museen, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin
1984
A.R. Penck, Venice Biennale, Venice
1982
A.R. Penck, Documenta 7, Kassel
1981
A.R. Penck, Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel
A.R. Penck, Sonnabend Gallery, New York
1978
A.R. Penck, Museum Ludwig , Cologne
1977
A.R. Penck, Documenta 6, Kassel
1975
A.R. Penck, Kunsthalle, Bern
1970
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne