Vita – Ole Ohlendorff
Cop – Rocker – Painter
A life full of rock’n’roll…
Ole Ohlendorff, born on 26. February 1958 in Winsen an der Luhe (near Hamburg). He lives and works in his hometown as a freelance artist.
Since 1990, the art of painting has been reminiscent of an “Ariadne’s thread through the Labyrinth of longins” and, at the same time, has helped him to continually reassess his own biography. Formerly, from 1975 to 1981, Ole was a Police-officer in Hamburg, based, amongst others, at the world famous “Davidwache” (Reeperbahn in St. Pauli, Hamburg). He later worked as a roadie, a dock worker, a courier, a cook, became a globetrotter… and since 1990 has been a freelance artist. This true rollercoaster ride through life is as colourful as this artist’s palette.
For many years, current and social issues have been playing a part in the artist’s paintings and in 2009 Ole was elected “Culture Award Winner” of the Lower Saxony Region in Germany. His artistic signature takes on surrealistic and symbolic traditions as well as the more stylistic representations of Pop Art. The paintings are as diverse as the artist himself. His personal dreams and experiences are reflected in his visual worlds, sometimes gloomy and apocalyptic – right down to the bottom of the soul – but then again enthusiastic and full of vitality.
Since 1992, Ole has been involved in an artist initiative called “Help for people in need”, within the town of Itzehoe in the north of Germany. 1993 saw him becoming a member of “KUNSTASYL”, an artist group based in his home town Winsen, and the following year he became co-founder of the “Winsen Culture Days”.
Ole Ohlendorff’s paintings can be found in private and public collections, such as The Rolling Stones Museum in Luechow (Wendland, Northern Germany), Hotel Residenz Hafen Hamburg (St. Pauli), German Rock & Pop Museum (close to the Dutch Border), Art-Archives-Lueneburg, W.O.A. Wacken Foundation and in the trophy hall of the Brazilian Football Association (CBF) in Rio de Janeiro.
