In the art of the divided Germany, he was the wild man from the East, known far beyond the art scene for his stormy painting style and his countless talents. The expressive oeuvre of A.R. Penck (1939–2017), that encompassed painting and drawing as well as sculpture, film, music and literature, has lost nothing of its boundless energy and vitality.
Born Ralf Winkler, from 1968 he began adopting new, richly allusive monikers. The name “Penck” is borrowed from the famous Ice Age expert Albrecht Penck (1858-1945), an allusion to the Cold War that shaped relations between the two German states.
The show at Neues Museum features six pictures by this exceptional artist dating from the years 1974 to 1991.