Born in Jena in 1947. 1974-1976 studies at Munich's Akademie der Bildenden Künste in the class of Prof. Karl Fred Dahmen. 1977 to 1981 study at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg, under Franz Erhard Walther and Sigmar Polke. 1993 professorship at the Städel School, Frankfurt am Main. From 2000 to 2014 professor at Düsseldorf's Staatliche Kunstakademie. Lives and works in Cologne.