Patrick Cierpka was born in 1967 in Giengen, Germany. He began studying visual communications in 1991 at the University of Pforzheim, and from 1996 he began a second degree in painting at the acclaimed Berlin University of Arts. Five years later he completed his studies with a Master of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Professor Hödicke. Cierpka’s work has been exhibited in Berlin in the GEHAG Forum, Neues Deutschland, and the Kunstmuseum Heidenheim where he also received the 2003 Hans Helmut Baur Prize. His works are included in international collections including the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the AXA Nordstern in Cologne. The artist currently works and lives in Berlin.

ARTIST STATEMENT

A glance into the light changes our perception. In a sense, you go blind for a brief moment. The afterimages that appear on the retina come from the delayed reaction of the eye to the stimulus of light. When you look around at your surroundings, shapes dissolve, motifs overlap, and new forms are created.

“With colourfully glaring landscapes overpowered with light, contours dissolve and structures blur in front of our eyes. It’s as if one had stopped and looked into the bright sun or into the light for too long. This is an experience that everyone has had before. To get out of this ‘overexposed’ state and to reduce glare, we naturally squint or blink. This experience, the fleeting moment when contours and colours dissolve and reappear, is captured in my paintings.” – Patrick Cierpka

Awards

Selected Solo Exhibitions

GROUP EXHIBITIONS