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KI generiert: Das Bild zeigt einen Museumsraum mit hölzernem Boden, hellen Wänden, mehreren Gemälden und einer Sitzbank in der Mitte. Türen und ein Fenster mit Holzrahmen sind ebenfalls sichtbar.

Stefan Plenkers

Painting, drawing, graphics

15. Mar 1. Jun

Opening hours
Tue – Fri: 14:00 – 18:00
Sat / Sun: 10:00 – 18:00
Admission
4 € per person | 2,50 € reduced
Friday from 14:00 free admission (except public holidays)

Free admission with the Dresden Pass and for children under 7, as well as other discounts

The art historian Diether Schmidt once described Stefan Plenkers as the »head of young Dresden graphic art and painting«. That was in 1980; the artist would have turned 80 in spring 2025. He did not live to see the honouring retrospective held at the Leonhardi Museum to mark the occasion. Now, a few months after his death, our exhibition will be a worthy and joyful reminder.

Stefan Plenkers drew his inspiration from the places he used, the places he travelled to, the places he liked: his studio, urban space, landscapes, harbours, beaches, pubs, the circus world. But he does not make it easy for the viewer: narrative elements are rare, instead the artist creates nested spaces that offer little security, in which plunging lines and seemingly chaotic structures mislead, jostle and bounce off the viewer's gaze. Plenkers obscures this view with inserted walls, such as deliberately placed curtains, balustrades, posts or half-open doors. The viewer is forced to find his own way through unknown terrain and is encouraged to surmise what is hidden behind the obstacles. Plenker's gesture is two-dimensional, the pictorial language is concise, interior and exterior spaces are sparse. It is not least the reduction from which the works from Plenker's early creative phase derive their intensity.

Stefan Plenkers and the Leonhardi Museum have a long history: his first solo exhibition, immediately after studying at the Dresden HfBK under Günter Horlbeck, Herbert Kunze and Gerhard Kettner, took place in our museum in 1973, followed by others in 1986 and 1996.  

In the current exhibition we are showing 14 paintings from the years 1976 to 1988, »paintings about music« (ink drawings on scores by Carlo Inderhees), charcoal drawings and monotypes as well as etchings and lithographs (portfolio »Meer und Küste« from 1976 and the »Kneipenmappe« from 1979/80). The works come from Stefan Plenkers' studio as well as from the private collections of collectors from all over Germany. The film »Perlmuttlicht - Facets from the life of the Dresden painter Stefan Plenkers« by Dieter Berger and Steffen F. Schmidt will also be shown.

(André Hennig)

Prof. Matthias Flügge spoke at the opening on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Dietmar Diesner - Free Sounds for Stefan played.

KI generiert: Das Bild zeigt einen Ausstellungsraum in einer Galerie, in dem mehrere abstrakte Gemälde an den Wänden hängen. In der Mitte des Raumes befindet sich eine einfache Sitzgelegenheit.© Leonhardi-Museum / PR

Biographical information

1945 born in Ebern near Bamberg, grew up in Munich and Görlitz

1963-66 Apprenticeship as a typesetter in Görlitz, worked at the HfBK Leipzig

1967-72 Studied at the HfBK Dresden under H. Kunze, G. Kettner, G. Horlbeck

1975 Study trips to Central Asia

1980-82 Master student with Prof. G.Kettner

2024 died in Kreischa near Dresden

Works in public collections, among others:

Lindenau-Museum Altenburg, Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank Berlin, Städtische Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Brandenburgische Kunstsammlungen Cottbus, Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister Dresden, Kupferstichkabinett Dresden, Museum für Stadtgeschichte Dresden, Angermuseum Erfurt, Museum of Cultural History Görlitz, Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig, British Museum London, Art Collections Neubrandenburg, Ludwig Collection Oberhausen, Art Museum Oslo, Vatican Rome, Kunsthalle Schweinfurt, Museum of Fine Arts Sofia, Hermitage Museum St. Petersburg, Polish National Museum Szczecin