1939년에 동독의 드레스덴에서 태어난 A.R. 펭크의 본명은 랄프 빙클러(Ralf Winkler)이다. 회화, 조각, 영화, 문학, 음악 등을 공부한 그는 동독사회의 모순을 지적하고 경직된 사회주의의 예술관을 개혁하고자 하였다.

펭크는 인간이나 토템을 닮은 신(新)원시주의 이미지로서 단순한 구성이나 간결한 선들로 이루어진 이미지를 주로 그렸는데 마치 선사시대의 동굴벽화나 석기시대 조각무늬의 도식화된 형상들에서 비롯된 자유로운 낙서와 암호와 같은 상징과 난해함을 구현하였다.

필명인 펭크 또한 빙하시대의 저명한 지형학자인 알브레이트 펭크(Albrecht R. Penck, 1858-1945)를 본떠 개명한 이름인 것으로도 알 수 있다. 작가에게 있어서 빙하시대는 시대에 대한 우의화로서 ‘냉전’을 표상했다. 젊은 나이부터 고전음악과 재즈 음악에 심취하였고 1984년에는 뉴욕, 런던, 독일에서 음악가들과 함께 여러 음반을 발표하기도 하였다. 1970년대 초부터 미술관 개인전을 본격적으로 시작하여 바젤미술관, 베른미술관, 베를린국립미술관, 취리히미술관 등 수많은 국제적 기관에서 대규모 전시회를 가졌으며 베니스 비엔날레에 참가하고 카셀 도큐멘타에도 지속적으로 참여하였다.

1980년에 동독에서 비자를 취득하고 더블린, 런던, 뒤셀도르프와 퀼른 등에서 작업하였고 현재에는 더블린에 거주하며 활발히 작업하고 있다.

(BIOGRAPHY)

2007-08

Retrospective exhibition at Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt

1997-98

Extensive traveling exhibition throughout Japan

1989

Becomes a professor at the Academy of Art, Düsseldorf

1987

Receives the NORD/LB prize for art

1986

First Carrara marble sculptures appear

1985

Awarded the Artist's Prize by the city of Aachen

1984-85

Creates various miniature sculptures in bronze

1984

Participates in the 41st Venice Biennale with Lothar Baumgarten
Joins work on the production of numerous free jazz recordings

1983

Extended visit to Israel. Settles in London and later in Dublin

1982

Starts working with iron and bronze
Publishes “Krater und Wolke,” which is edited by A.R. Penck and dedicated to Georg Baselitz

1981

Awarded the Rembrandt Prize by the Goethe Foundation in Basel

1980

Emigrates from East to West Berlin
Begins friendship with Markus Lüpertz and Per Kirkeby Visits Joseph Beuys

1979

Releases the first recording of “Gostritzer 92”

1977

Creates first wooden sculptures
Meets Jörg Immendorff in East Berlin.

1975-76

First major retrospective at the Bern Kunsthalle
Awarded the Will Grohmann Prize of the Academy of Arts in West Berlin

1973-74

Spends six months training as a reserve for the People's Army in the former German Democratic Republic
Begins the Mike Hammer series which then leads to the development of the TM series

1972

Finishes “Standart-Arbeiten”

1970-71

Creates various publications in which the term “Standart” is described
First solo museum exhibition at Museum Haus Lange in Krefeld

1969

First exhibition at Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne

1968

Adopts the pseudonym A.R. Penck
Michael Werner organizes his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Hake, Cologne

1967-70

Begins working on signaling, sketching and symbols

1966

Accepted as a candidate for the East German Association of Creative Artists (Verband Bildender Künstler Deutschlands), and is subsequently rejected by the jury due to expiration of three deadlines for candidates

1965

Takes part in an exhibition at the Pushkin House in Dresden Begins friendship with Michael Werner

1964

Moves into his own studio on Lange Strasse in Dresden
Concentrates on working with cybernetics and system pictures

Produces his first “Standart-Arbeiten”

1961

Creation of the first “System-Bilder”

1957

Starts making figurative sculptures and head studies out of plaster
Begins friendship with Georg Kern (Baselitz)

1956

Unsuccessfully applies to multiple art academies in Dresden and East Berlin.  As a self-taught artist he begins to work on painting, sculpture, film writing and music.

1955

Begins an apprenticeship as a draftsman at VEB DEWAG (Volkseigener Betreib Deutsche Werbeagentur)

1953-54 

Studies painting and drawing with Jürgen Böttcher

1945

Sees the burning of Dresden as a little boy

1939

Born Ralf Winkler on October 5th in Dresden

(SELECTED EXHIBITIONS)

A.R. Penck currently lives and works in Dublin and Düsseldorf

2016

A.R. Penck: Early Works, Michael Werner Gallery, New York

2015

A.R. Penck: Between Light and Shadow, Michael Werner Gallery, New York; Galerie Michael Werner, Märkisch Wilmersdorf
A.R. Penck: Skulpturen, Neue & Alte Kunst, Basel
Post-Germanic Expressions: Gift from Michael Werner, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Cobra and its Legacy, Blum and Pow, Los Angeles
A.R. Penck: Early Works, Michael Werner Gallery, London
Cover Art – eine aussterbende Gatting?, Kunstverein, Ludwigsburg

2014

Beyond Black, Setareh Gallery, Düsseldorf
A.R. Penck: Felt Works 1972-1995, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
Germany Divided: Baselitz and his Generation, British Museum, London
Nachtbilder, Michael Werner Kunsthandel, Cologne
Figur Landschaft Abstraktion, H2 Zentrum für Gegenwartskunst im Glaspalast, Augsburg
Jörg Immendorff – A.R. Penck: eine deutsch-deutsche Künstlerfreundschaft, Museum Kelkheim, Kelkheim
A.R. Penck: Zwischen Licht und Schatten, Michael Werner Kunsthandel, Cologne

2013

A.R. Penck: New Paintings, Michael Werner Gallery, New York; Galerie Michael Werner, Märkisch Wilmersdorf
Before the West: Select Works from the 1970s, Leo Koenig Inc., New York
A.R. Penck, Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf
ARTZUID 2013. Internationale Sculptuur Biennale, Amsterdam
Genius Loci. Contemporary Masters. Düsseldorfer Akademie nach 1945, Setareh Gallery, Düsseldorf
Immendorff, Penck, Lüpertz. Arbeiten au seiner Privatsammlung, Städtische Galerie im Leeren Beutel, Regensburg
A.R. Penck: Les années 80, Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève, Paris
Bas relief – Laurens, César, Arman, Volti, Penck, Rebeyrolle, Maillol, LOFT 19 / Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève, Paris

2012

German Masters: Lüpertz, Penck, Baselitz, Richter, Polke, Galerie & Edition Bode, Nürnberg
Geteilt-Ungeteilt: Kunst in Deutschland, 1945 bis 2010, Galerie Neue Meister, Albertinum, Dresden
Tour d’Horizon: Werke aus der Sammlung Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Migros: Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich
Elegante Linien – Papierarbetien aus 4 Jahrzehnten, Galerie Raab, Berlin
Kewenig Galerie at Salon du Dessin, Palais de la Bourse, Paris
It’s your choice – LUFO Highlights, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen
Rendez-vous der Maler II: Malerei an der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf von 1986 bis heute, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf
“Pas de Duex” – Künstler der Galerie, Galerie Winter, Wiesbaden
To the Museum of Modern Dreams, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart
The Collection. German art from Kiefer to Henning, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Abstraktion trifft Realismus, Kunsthaus Meyenburg, Nordhausen
Eye of Horus, Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad
A.R. Penck, Cardi Black Box, Mailand
The Michael Werner Collection: I sat Beauty on my knees. (…) And I reviled Her., Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris
Abschied von Ikarus. Bildwelten in der DDR – neu gesehen, Neues Museum, Weimar
Bilderbedarf. Braucht Gesellschaft Kunst?, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden
A.R. Penck: Neue Bilder, Michael Werner Kunsthandel, Cologne

2011

A.R. Penck. Holzschnitte, Radierungen, Lithographien, Hermann Voith Galerie, Kunstmuseum Heidenheim
Lüpertz – Penck, Galerie Zdenek Sklenar, Prague
Flowers for Summer, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
Die unbekannte Sammlung. Klassiker der Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Rückschau in die Moderne. Arbeiten auf Papier der bedeutendsten europäischen und amerikanischen Künstler des 20. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Richard H. Mayer, Schleswig-Holstein-Haus, Schwerin
A.R. Penck, Galerie Noah, Augsburg
A.R. Penck, Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Jubiläumsausstellung 20 Jahre Galerie Rigassi, Galerie Rigassi, Bern
           Peintures sur papier et gravures, Galerie Lelong, Paris

2010

C’est la Vie!, Musée Maillol, Paris
A.R. Penck, Kunsthalle Rostock
A.R. Penck, Vergangenheit Gegenwart, Zukunft, Museum Ludwig, Cologne

2009

Paint Made Flesh, Frist Center for the Visual Art Nashville, Tennessee; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, New York
Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures, LACMA, Los
Angeles; Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin
1968: The Great Innocents, Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Edition Copenhagen Retrospective 1959-2009, Den Frie Udstilling, Copenhagen
A.R. Penck: Neue Systembilder, Michael Werner Kunsthandel, Cologne; Michael Werner Gallery, New York; Galerie Michael Werner, Berlin
A.R. Penck, Museum Weserburg, Bremen

2008

Paintings 1963-77, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen
A.R. Penck: Peinture, Système, Monde, Musée d’Art moderne de la ville de Paris
Café Kranzler 1981: A. R. Penck – ReinhardStangl, Emmanuel P. G, Galerie Emmagoss, Dresden
A.R. Penck: Die Achtziger Jahre, Julius Werner Berlin
Penck-Terck-Opitz-Gallasch. Works of Dresden – Artists from the 1970s, Kunst in der Villa Eschenbach, Dresden
A.R. Penck, Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg
Being and Nature – The Unknown Penck, Städtische Galerie Dresden
Serial Works on Paper, Julius Werner, Berlin
Series Drawings, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
Black Swan: A Sculpture Show, Michael Werner, London
A.R. Penck: Paintings from the Eighties, Michael Werner Gallery, New York

2007

A.R. Penck: Der Begriff Modell, Neues Museum – Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design, Nürnberg
A.R. Penck: Retrospective, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt and Kunsthalle zu Kiel
Selection, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
A.R. Penck. Bilder aus den 60er Jahren, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne; Michael Werner Gallery, New York
Scenes and Sequences, Peter Blum Edition, New York
A Selection from 1980 to 2006, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
A.R. Penck. Paintings and Drawings from the 60s and 70s, Galerie Daniel Blau, Munich
A.R. Penck. Neue Arbeiten, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin

2006

A.R. Penck, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York
Georg Baselitz, Jörg Immendorff, Markus Lüpertz, A.R. Penck, Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art
Beautiful Cynicism, Arario Beijing
Dereconstruction, Gladstone Gallery, New York
Penck and Baselitz from Beyeler, Michael Werner Gallery, New York

2005

A.R. Penck, Per Kirkeby, Markus Lüpertz, Gallery W52, New York
A.R. Penck: Retrospective 1978 – 2002. Paintings and Sculpture, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
Works on Paper, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck: New Paintings, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
A.R. Penck, Art & Public, Geneva
Private/Corporate III. Sammlung Daimler Chrysler – Sammlung Heliod Spiekermann, Daimler Chrysler Contemporary, Haus Huth, Berlin
New acquisitions. Jörg Immendorff, Markus Lüpertz, A.R. Penck. Paintings and Sculptures, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
The upper half. The bust since Auguste Rodin, Städtisches Museum Heilbronn
Works from the Sixties, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Atlas – Dialog of World Cultures, HBV Kunst Palais, Munich
First Presentation, Akademie-Galerie – Die neue Sammlung, Düsseldorf

2004

A.R. Penck: Paintings from the Seventies, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
Auswahl, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
A.R. Penck, Patrick Painter Inc., Santa Monica
A.R. Penck: Constructions, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
German Art from an American View, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

2003

A.R. Penck: Jenseits der Kriege. Bilder aus dem Jahr 2002,  Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
A.R. Penck. Weltsicht 1968-2002, Museum Küppersmühle Sammlung Grothe, Duisburg

2002

A.R. Penck: TM Works on Paper, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck. Variationen über ein Thema, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin
A.R. Penck. Neue Bilder, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Ralf Winkler. Frühe Arbeiten. Bilder und Zeichnungen aus einer Dresdener Privatsammlung, Galerie im Schloss Wiligrad, Kunstverein Wiligrad e.V., Lübstorf
A. R. Penck. Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Graphic, Galerie Noah im Glaspalast, Augsburg
A. R. Penck – Druckgraphik aus eigenem Bestand des MOG Regensburg, Museum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg

2001

A.R. Penck. Frühe Bilder. Dauerleihgaben aus Privatbesitz, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
A.R.Penck. Nord-Ort, Galerie Terminus, Munich
A.R. Penck, Roter Mann auf dem Weg, Galerie Triebold, Rheinfelden

2000

Georg-Kolbe-Museum, Berlin
Foundation for Sculpture, Berlin
Ecke Galerie, Augsburg
Sinclair-Haus, Bad Homburg
Galerie Weihergut, Salzburg
Cultural Centre of the English Church, Bad Homburg
Galerie Winter, Wiesbaden
Galerie Schröder+Dörr, Bergisch-Gladbach
A.R. Penck. Sur les méthodes de la peinture, Galerie Jérôme de Noirment, Paris

1999

A.R. Penck. Erinnerung, Modell, Denkmal. Bronzeskulpturen 1984-1998, Städtische Museen Heilbronn, Heilbronn Gerhard Marcks Haus, Bremen
A.R. Penck. Bronzeskulpturen, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Kunsthalle Recklinghausen
Ralf Winkler, die frühen Jahre in Dresden, 1956-1963, Galerie Hieronymus, Dresden
Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Luxembourg
A.R. Penck. Dogma and Dialektik, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin

1997-98

A.R. Penck: German Darkness and Contemporary Symbol, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima; The Museum of Art, Kochi

1996

A.R. Penck, Galerie Fernando Santos, Porto
A.R. Penck, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City
A.R. Penck, La mort du temps, Galerie Jérome de Noirmont, Paris

1995

Couplet 4. A.R. Penck – Sculptures, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
A.R. Penck, Galleryism, Seoul
A.R. Penck: Drawings, Paintings, Sculptures – 1962-1990, Museum Het Domein, Sittard
A.R. Penck: Zeichnungen der Jahre 1965-1978. Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen, Städtisches Museum in der alten Post, Mühlheim an der Ruhr

1993

A.R. Penck: Grossskulptur, Deutsche Bank, Luxembourg

1992

documenta 9
A.R. Penck: Lithographien, Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn
A.R. Penck in Dresden: Analysis of a Situation, Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister im Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
A.R. Penck: Standart-Modelle, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne

1991

Krater und Wolke (Crater and Cloud) – an art magazine edited by A.R. Penck, Michael Werner Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck: Drawings, Paintings, Sculptures and Ceramics from the Visser Collections, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam
A.R. Penck, Galerie Laage-Salomon, Paris
The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin

1990

A.R. Penck: Sculptures and Drawings, Bielefelder Kunstverein e.V., Bielefeld
A.R. Penck: Opere Recenti, Gallery in Arco, Turin
Eugene Binder Gallery, Dallas

1989

A.R. Penck, Mary Boone Gallery, New York
A.R. Penck: A Survey of Prints, Stuart Gerstman Galleries, Richmond
A.R. Penck, Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm

1988

A.R. Penck, Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Staatliche Museen, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin
A.R. Penck: Sculpture and Drawing, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover
Tekeningen: A.R. Penck, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

1987

A.R. Penck. The Northern Darkness: Recent Sculpture / New Painting, Orchard Gallery, Londonderry
A.R. Penck: Zeichnungen und Druckgraphische Werke im Basler Kupferstichkabinett, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach
A.R. Penck in Cambridge, Kettie’s Yard Gallery, Cambridge
A.R. Penck: Was einem Emigranten durch den Kopf geht, Galerie Springer Berlin
A.R. Penck, Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

1985

A.R. Penck: Mike Hammer Konsequenzen, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach

1984

Venice Biennale
Galerie Watari, Tokyo
Studio d’Arte Cannaviello, Milan
A.R. Penck: Paintings and Drawings 1980-1982, Maeght Lelong, Zurich
Waddington Galeries, London
Ulrike Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles
The Poetry of Vision, The Guinness Hop Store, Dublin
A.R. Penck: Recent Paintings, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo

1983

Galeria Lucio Amelio, Naples

1982

documenta 7
A.R. Penck, Galerie Lucio Amelio, Naples
A.R.Penck. 45 Zeichnungen. Bewußtseinsschichten, Kunstmuseum Bonn

1981

A.R. Penck, Kunstmuseum Basel
A.R. Penck: Gemälde und Handzeichnungen, Josef-
Haubrich-Kunsthalle, Cologne
a.Y (A.R. Penck) T. Standart-West, Kunsthalle Bern
A.R. Penck: Paintings, Sonnabend Gallery, New York

1980

A.R. Penck. Zeichnungen und Aquarelle (Drawings and Watercolors), Städtisches Museum Leverkusen, Schloss Morsbroich, Leverkusen

1979

A.R. Penck: Concept of Conceptual Space, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam

1978

A.R. Penck. Y. Zeichnungen bis 1975 (Y. Drawings until 1975), Kunstmuseum Basel; Mannheimer Kunstverein, Haus des Kunstvereins, Mannheim
Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur
Museum Ludwig, Cologne

1977

documenta VI

1975

A.R. Penck, Kunsthalle Bern
A.R. Penck, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven

1973

A.R. Penck: Installation - Paintings, Films, Books, Sound tapes, and photographic documentation, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, Halifax
A.R. Penck, L’Uomo e l’Arte, Milan
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
Wide White Space, Antwerp

1972

documenta V
A.R. Penck: Training mit Standart, Galerie im Goethe-Institute/Provisorium, Amsterdam
Galerie Stampa, Basel
Wide White Space, Antwerp

1971

Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich
A.R. Penck, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne
Zeichen als Verständigung (Sign as Communication): A.R. Penck, Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld

1970

A.R. Penck: Erstes Training mit Standart, Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne

1968

Deutsche Avantgarde 3: A.R. Penck, Bilder, Galerie Hake, Cologne