Born in Recklinghausen in 1955. Studied at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Klaus Rinke and Gerhard Richter from 1975 to 1979. 1979 stay in New York. 1980 in Paris, where he studied at the Cité Internationale des Arts. 1985 visiting professorship at the Städel School in Frankfurt am Main. Lives and works in Cologne and Italy.