Leif Trenkler was born in Wiesbaden in 1960. From 1984 to 1986, he studied at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. He then moved to the Düsseldorf Art Academy for a year. After graduating in 1990, Leif Trenkler received a scholarship from the "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes" (German National Academic Foundation) and travelled to Italy.
The Cologne painter is one of the first representatives of the "New Figuration" movement of the 1990s in Germany. His paintings are steeped in the discourse of our time, but at the same time seem to be indebted to the pictorial ideas of Romanticism. In his most recent works, Leif Trenkler, who always paints in oil on wood, explores the natural space.
In Trenkler's work, the encounter between man and landscape is integrated into harmoniously balanced compositions and depicts the longing for harmony and tranquillity in harmony with nature. In their captured and preserved momentariness, the pictures are surrounded by a touch of melancholy and melancholy, due to the knowledge of the unreliability of lasting bliss and the transience and fleetingness of the here and now through the constantly advancing time. Again and again, the contrast between organically grown nature and man-made technical construction is revealed, as can be seen in the architecture and pool landscapes of the chic glass bungalows and their well-off, appearance-conscious residents. Nature, perceived as a unity, is contrasted with artificiality in the course of its reclamation by man. Nature is cultivated in parks and avenues, domesticated and staged according to plans.1
Since 2006, Leif Trenkler has had solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, the Kunstverein Augsburg and the Kunstverein Wolfenbüttel. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions, Leif Trenkler has also taken part in several group exhibitions, including at the Kunsthalle der HypoKulturstiftung, Munich.
In recent years, Leif Trenkler has presented his work in Zurich, Leipzig, Wiesbaden and in our gallery in Munich.
In 2005, the catalogue "Leif Trenkler - ... In der Zeitschleudermaschine", published by DuMont, Cologne. In spring 2009, the comprehensive catalogue "I love your long eyes" was published by Prestel Verlag, Munich. A further publication on Leif Trenkler is planned for 2021 by Hirmer Verlag, Munich.
Leif Trenkler lives and works in Cologne.
1 https://www.galeriejahn.com/de/ausstellung/leif-trenkler-nov-2019
Yellow Haze, Galerie Sechzig, Feldkirch, AT
Coloured World, Buchheim Museum, Bernried, DE
Sehnsucht, Galerie Wolfgang Jahn, München, DE
art gallery wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, DE
4 Seasons, Galerie Von&Von, Nürnberg, DE
Hunger nach Bildern, Thomas Rehbein Galerie, Köln, DE
Eine Hommage an Karl Pfefferle, Galerie Pfefferle, München, DE
Die Temperatur des Bildes, Galerie Altes Feuerhaus, Bad Reichenhall, DE
Alles neu macht der Mai, Galerie Heufelder + Koos, München, DE
From Painting with Love, Galerie Brennecke, Berlin, DE
Avanti, Jagla Ausstellungsraum, Köln, DE