Art talk about Fred Schierenbeck
Talking to
Prof. Dr Andreas Beaugrand and Alexander Gruber
Date
Artist
- Fred Schierenbeck
Camera and editing
- Jonas Hartz
Biographical details
Fred Schierenbeck is well known in Oerlinghausen, in the district of Lippe, in East Westphalia, in North Rhine-Westphalia and far beyond – as a dedicated art teacher, a talented artist and a kind-hearted philanthropist.
He was born in Bremen in 1952 and, after completing his schooling in Wolfsburg, studied painting, graphic design and crafts at the Berlin University of the Arts from 1972 to 1979. In 1978, he was a master student under Prof. Werner Volkert, who belonged to the Berlin artists’ group Großgörschen 35, some of whom had in turn studied under Prof. Fred Thieler – one of the great artists of informal painting since the 1950s.
After completing his studies and teaching practice at secondary schools in Berlin, Fred Schierenbeck worked as an art teacher at the Städtisches Gymnasium Oerlinghausen – now known as the Niklas-Luhmann-Gymnasium – from 1981 to 2014.
Between 1981 and 1990, Fred Schierenbeck established himself as an artist – through many years of artistic work without holding exhibitions or participating in group shows. His works were first exhibited in 1990: following a studio grant at the BBK studio in the Ravensberger Spinnerei in Bielefeld and the establishment of studios in Bielefeld and Oerlinghausen in 1991, Fred Schierenbeck’s works were featured in numerous exhibitions. In 1995, he was the first recipient of the Lippe District Art Prize. Alongside his work in schools and the arts, Fred Schierenbeck held a teaching post at the Faculty of Theology, Geography, Art and Music at Bielefeld University from 1993 to 2003 and was a visiting professor at the Berlin University of the Arts in 2001/2002.
Art and Life
In 1997, Fred Schierenbeck set up a studio for painting and spatial installations in the CEWECO-Haus in Oerlinghausen; however, the building’s renovation in 2016 necessitated the studio’s relocation to the premises of the ‘KunstWerkstatt’ in the former Pinguin building on Rudolf-Diesel-Straße. Regina Knappert, Holger Köhler, Ilona Neumann, Vilma Pduschek, Adelheid Speer and Elke Wolf are also active as artists within the studio collective.
As a painter, Fred Schierenbeck follows in the tradition of expressive informal painting and has worked for many, many years with great physical exertion on his often large-scale paintings and pictorial objects – using heavy masses of paint, initially graphite, dark black and grey, and later deep shades of red and blue, applying them by hand, with a brush and with a chainsaw – however, in 2015, an existing neurological condition worsened to such an extent that he was forced to temporarily cease his artistic work. With iron will, great discipline and the support of his wife Sylvie, his family and friends, Fred Schierenbeck began painting again in 2018, in a new and different way.
“Just a picture”
Fred Schierenbeck’s new painting, now on display alone on an easel in the Old Synagogue, features the words ANGST (white), HOFFNUNG (yellow), ANGER (red) and DEATH (black) on a black background; at first glance, one associates these with the colours of the national flag of the Federal Republic of Germany, a country that is supposedly modern but apparently only superficially enlightened, where die-hards stir up fear and anger, leading some ‘angry citizens’ of limited intellect to stage astonishing demonstrations.
On closer inspection, however, this painting is one of the most personal works an artist can create: it captures Fred Schierenbeck’s inner turmoil and doubt, his hope and anxiety, as he navigates the consequences of his illness and the current pandemic, caught between life and death.
