Herbert Liesenberg

Born in Germany, Liesenberg lived with his mother until her death, when he was admitted to the Alsterdorfer Institution for the mentally retarded. He was later engaged in a workshop for the handicapped as a kitchen porter, but his talent as a draughtsman was not recognised until the 1980s when he joined the Schlumper ('bunglers') artists' group. A passionate smoker, Liesenberg has unfortunately suffered from ill health over recent years and his productivity has been much reduced. This work characteristically displays solutions to complex representational problems which resolutely maintain the two-dimensional nature of the medium. Figures and vehicles are presented in severe frontal or profile views and arranged in frieze-like strata. Architectural elements are a mixture of traditional German vernacular styles and purely abstract geometric pattern.