A. R. Penck is recognized as one of the most distinctive artists of German post-war art. Repeatedly oppressed in the GDR, he developed an imagery in the 1960s that defies a single, unambiguous interpretation. Abstract figures, signs, and symbols combine to form an open visual system. Penck’s paintings can be interpreted—but never in just one way.

The pseudonym Ralf Winkler references the geologist and glacial researcher Albrecht Penck (1858–1945). Against the backdrop of Germany’s division, this choice takes on additional significance: the political “Ice Age” between East and West formed a central part of the artist’s experience. In contrast to his experience in the East, Penck gained early recognition in the West. His participation in documenta 5 in 1972 stood in stark contrast to his exhibition ban in the East. In 1980, he moved to the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1981, during the transition between these two worlds, he created the six-part series “Männer”. In “Männer II,” figures and symbols appear against a largely empty, white background, resembling elements of a script that is both archaic and modern. A man wielding an axe stands at the center, flanked by two armed soldiers. An eagle, a tank, and a stick figure complete the composition. A primitive face, rendered in just a few strokes, and a wall-like structure at the top of the image also appear. This openness creates an evocative visual composition in which action, reaction, power, and threat are all simultaneously implied. In a publication by Galerie Michael Werner released to accompany the series, A. R. Penck discusses war and the primal male urge to fight (see A. R. Penck, in: Galerie Michael Werner, Männer, Cologne 1984, no page number). Against this backdrop and given the time of its creation, this work can certainly also be read—in light of the Cold War—as a symbol of a permanently militarized present. Yet Penck does not formulate an unambiguous political allegory. Rather, he condenses the experience of a world divided into blocs into elementary symbols that seem to float in the empty pictorial space. In the same way, Penck’s critique of the male urge for war and the circumstances it creates floats on another level of meaning.

Penck’s reduced yet concise visual vocabulary, along with the resemblance to cave paintings in “Männer II”, feels accessible and invites the viewer to seek interpretation. The work’s distinctive presence lies in this productive tension. The power of a pictorial language, personal experience, current events, and world history that has always been there, rendered in a compelling, elemental form. [AW]