Klaus Karl Mehrkens Biography
Klaus Karl Mehrkens (Bremen, 12 July 1955) is a German artist. In 1977 he enrolled at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig and became a student of Alfred Winter-Rust and Hermann Albert. During these years he had the opportunity to frequent and closely observe the work of artists such as Markus Lupertz and George Baselitz. He closely follows Joseph Beuys on the occasion of the international art exhibitions of Documenta 6 and Documenta 7, organized in the city of Kassel. Between 1980 and 1981 he met the artist Norbert Tadeusz, the way and freedom with which he used color would greatly influence his painting. In 1981 the self-managed gallery "Weisses Pferd" (White Horse) opened in Hanover, founded by Mehrkens together with Andreas Weishaupt and Thomas Schindler. In 1982 he obtained his diploma. After graduating he moved to Berlin to live together with some artist friends. During these years he provided assistance as a nurse in a clinic for the elderly and terminally ill. In 1985, during his personal exhibition at the Galerie Folker Skulima in Berlin, he met Enzo Cannaviello, owner of the Cannaviello Art Gallery, who invited him to work in Italy. He arrived in Milan at the end of 1985 and moved into an apartment above the Cannaviello Art Gallery. He shares spaces with the artists of the Gallery such as Martin Disler, Siegfried Anzinger, Helmut Middendorf, Karl Horst Hödicke, Rainer Fetting, Bernd Zimmer. He exhibits within the collective "Nuove trame dell'arte" curated by Achille Bonito Oliva. In the Lombard capital he came into contact with the writer, playwright and art critic Giovanni Testori who edited two personal catalogs of the artist on the occasion of the 1986 Meditazione and 1989 Oziosa Giovinezza exhibitions, both held at the Cannaviello Art Gallery. He will be included in the group called by Testori himself the Group of New Ordinators (Albert, Chevalier, Schindler) as opposed to the group of New Savages (Hodicke, Fetting, Zimmer Salomè). In 1989 the New Ordinators Group was the protagonist of an exhibition held at Piramide Arte Contemporanea in Florence. In 1991 he exhibited at the Museum of Arts of Palazzo Bandera in Busto Arsizio in the context of the collective exhibition "Un'Alternativa Europea", subsequently also held at Palazzo Diamanti in Ferrara. In 1992 he exhibited at the Il Polittico Gallery in Rome. In 1993 he exhibited in the group exhibitions "Giovanni Testori Contemporary Art in Germany in the Eighties" at the Municipality of Felizzano and "European Painters in Milan" at the Forum in Assago. In 1998 he held a solo exhibition at Art's Events in Benevento. In 1999 he was among the artists of "Apparizioni" at the Monopoli Arte Contemporanea in Pavia while in 2000 the solo show "Orizzonte" was held at the Gabriele Cappelletti Arte Contemporanea in Milan. He remained permanently in Milan until 2001, subsequently leaving the city to move to the countryside Treviglio (BG). In 2001 a personal exhibition was held at the Poggiali e Forconi Gallery with texts by Aldo Busi, in the same year he had a personal exhibition at Filisietti Arte Contemporanea and the collective "figurazione", curated by Alessandro Riva, in the premises of the Forni Gallery in Milan. Over the years the activity continues with exhibitions in Italy and abroad. In 2011 his personal exhibition entitled "Presenze in Umbria" was held by the Nuova Artesegno gallery in Udine (Enzo Santese catalogue) Subsequently, a solo exhibition of graphic works and drawings was held at the Galleria Sagittaria in Pordenone. In 2013 he exhibited in two personal exhibitions: "Verso la Certosa", at the Il Triangolo Gallery in Cremona and "Oltre Misura" at the Ghiggini 1822 Gallery in Varese. In 2014, one of his solo shows with oil paintings on canvas entitled "Kiritsubo - Unique Opere" was held at the Stamperia d'Arte Albicocco in Udine.
