Bernd Koberling was born in Berlin in 1938. Considering how seminal a figure in German neo-expressionism Koberling has become, it is difficult to believe he could have been a cook for the rest of his life. Indeed, only after a series of early works under the guidance of Manfred Laber did Koberling envisage art as a necessity and a career. He subsequently enrolled in the Hochschule der Künste (University of the Arts) in Berlin (1958-1963), joining the local group Vision as a student in 1961. After graduating, the painter travelled to England followed by Italy, before returning to Germany in 1970, where he later participated in the novel emergence of the Young Wild Ones Movement that would fully manifest itself in the 1980s. This group made its mark on the contemporary art scene through now celebrated exhibitions such as A New Spirit in Painting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (1981) and Zeitgeist in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in what was then West Berlin (1982).
An irrepressible adoration of nature and its motifs nonetheless led Koberling away from the group’s more conceptual tendencies. Inspired by the isolation imposed during his annual summer trips to Iceland (a tradition he started in 1977), nature offered the best and only encounters. The result: numerous watercolours that trained both the eye and the hand, and would later serve as templates for the larger-format works Koberling painted in his Berlin studio.
Methodologically, Koberling likes to work in series or cycles. For example, the 1960s brought the multi-layered fractal images of his Überspannungen, while the 1990s introduced the aluminium-based Plattenbilder. More recent works (since 2012) have marked a return to more traditional oil painting.
Influential artistically, Koberling has also become a teacher at the Universität der Künste (University of Fine Arts) in Berlin, imparting his knowledge to the following generations in more ways than one.
Recent exhibitions include: Bernd Koberling. Am Rande der Mündung, KEWENIG, Berlin, Germany (2020); Bernd Koberling. Wiederkehr, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2019); Bernd Koberling. Malerei 2003-2018, KEWENIG, Berlin, Germany (2018); Bernd Koberling. Werke 1963 – 2017, MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg, Germany (2017); Bernd Koberling: Eyrarrós-Klang, Galerie Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark (2017); Bernd Koberling. Großer Strom, KEWENIG, Palma de Mallorca, Spain (2014-2015); Bernd Koberling. Beyond the Light – Inverted Darkness, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2014); Bernd Koberling, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Germany (2013); Zeichnungen 1963-2012, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2012); The Drawing Show – Bernd Koberling, Akira Ikeda Gallery, New York, USA (2011); Lichtfülle, Kunst im Westend, Berlin, Germany (2011); Bernd Koberling – Paintings 1984-2010, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2010); Sin Titulo. 2004-2010, Galería Kewenig, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Bernd Koberling. Memories of Water: Autumn 2010, Galleri Andersson Sandström, Stockholm, Sweden (2010).
