Timeline

1945

Born on July 14 in Bleckede near Lüneburg, Germany

1960 - 1980

Art Teacher, from 1971 on at the Dumont-Lindemann secondary school in Düsseldorf

1961

First exhibition at the New Orleans Jazz Club, Bonn

1963 - 1964

Studied stagecraft with Teo Otto at the Academy of Art in Düsseldorf for three terms

Studied 3 semesters stage design, Düsseldorf, Germany

1964

Studied with Joseph Beuys, Düsseldorf, Germany

1965 - 1966

Various actions and manifestations at the Academy of Art

1968 - 1970

"Lidl" Activities in Düsseldorf and abroad

1972

Participated in documenta 5

1973

Published the book Hier und jetzt: das tun, was zu tun ist

1976

First meeting with the artist A. R. Penck (Ralf Winkler) in Berlin (GDR), who was living in Dresden; first united short Manifesto about collective works

Participated in the Venice Biennale

1977

Second meeting with Penck in Berlin (GDR); formed a pact with Penck for joint actions; subsequently different mutual activities and exhibitions; began the series Café Deutschland

1978

First exhibition of the Café Deutschland paintings at Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne

1979

Visited Penck in Dresden; completed collaborations, which began in the early 1970s, with the Grünen/Bunten movement, Initiative Bunte Liste Düsseldorf (IBL)

1982 - 1983

documenta 7; visiting professor at the Academy of Art in Hamburg, in the Class F+F in Zürich and at the Academy of Art in Trondheim

1984 - 1985

Visiting professor at the Academy for Arts and Crafts, Cologne and at The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich

1984

Opening of the Café La Paloma, St. Pauli, Hamburg

1985

Creates the "Hans Albers" sculpture for Hamburg

1986

Stage design and costumes for the opera Elektra by Richard Strauß, at the Bremen Stadttheater

1987

Worked on the amusement park Luna Luna by André Heller; second prize for the draft of the wall painting in the colonnade in the Paulskirche, Frankfurt

1989

Since this time, he has been a professor at Städelschule Frankfurt, Germany

1994

Set and costume design for Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress for the Salzburg Festival

1996

Professor at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

1997

Appointed as a member of Europäische Akademie der Wissenschaften und Künste, Salzburg; visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Tianjin

Premio Marco: Grand Prize Winner, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Monterrey

1998

Received Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany)

2000

Received Kulturpreis der Stadt Dortmund

2002

Set and costume design for the opera "Die Nase", Premiere at the "Staatsoper unter den Linden", Berlin, 16.11.2002

2007

Died on May 28 in Duesseldorf, Germany