Burkhard Driest was born in Stettin in 1939. A well-known author, director and actor – painting has also been one of his passions throughout his entire life. His studio has already been in existence since 1956, but his oeuvre as a painter was not presented to the public until 2010. His work was catalogued and discussed in detail for the first time in a monograph published by Belser Verlag.
The unavoidable grappling of the viewer with the expressive and simultaneously reality-based works of Burkhard Driest uncovers the honesty and profundity of his artistic creation. His pictures seem to pursue a confrontation course as a matter of principle. Colours and shapes forge a complementary alliance thanks to a vibrant pallet of hues. The view is often extremely distorted, and that playful approach is carried through to the perspective, thus underscoring the pictorial narrative, which is enigmatic and sometimes disturbing in parts.
Nevertheless, the various subjects always reveal a narrative structure which is interpreted or supplemented by the artist and – divorced from its general context – which gives rise to new interrelationships and messages.
In his works, Burkhard Driest constantly confronts the viewer with new challenges. The artist definitely does not allow the latter to just get away with enjoying pretty colours and shapes as well as blatantly obvious messages. Again and again he generates an interplay of extremes that are reflected in content as well as shape, colour and brushstroke, thus provoking the viewer to explore and analyse them.
Since 2010 Burkhard Driest’s works have already been on display in numerous solo and group exhibitions at galleries as well as art shows.
The artist lives and works in Berlin and on the island of Ibiza.