Stefan Plenkers

(* 1945 Ebern bei Bamberg)

Stefan Plenker's paintings, especially those of the 1980s, are characterized by an intense preoccupation with pictorial space, its construction, and the interplay between inside and outside. Interlocking walls and doors open and close glimpses into the often sparse interior. The artist's focus is less on narrative depiction; rather, his scenes are soberly described incidents of everyday reality. Plenker's interest is in the design of the surface, lines and structures. It results from a long-standing preoccupation with graphic art, through which he arrived at painting and which is also expressed in his more recent, ciphered works.

Vita

1961 - 1963
Drawing circle at the community college
1963 - 1965
Apprenticeship as typesetter
1966 - 1967
Military service
1967 - 1972
Studied graphic design at the HfBK Dresden and typesetter in the typography department at the HfBK Leipzig
1972
freelance work, first in Bad Muskau and Cottbus, then in Dresden
1980 - 1982
Master student of Gerhard Kettner at the HfBK Dresden
1988
first trip to China
1989
Caesura due to car accident
1991
Artist symposium in Lapland
1992
Course instructor at the Marburg Summer Academy
1994 - 1996
Study trips to the USA and Italy
2005
Stay in India, lives and works in Dresden