Peter Klasen was born in Germany in 1935. In 1955, he entered the Berlin School of Fine Arts. In 1959, he moved to Paris. He became a pioneer of Narrative Figuration. He developed his pictorial language by appropriating photography and by taking an interest in industrial aesthetics. For Klasen, photography is an indispensable approach, a filter to reality. "To photograph reality is not to reduce it but to sublimate it. It is an investigation of reality through the lens. The close-up limits our field of vision and focuses our attention. The places on the bangs of our cities, the hidden faces of our industrialized world, exert a strange fascination on me".
Peter Klasen, extract from 1975.
To create his works, Klasen selects images and combines them in his canvases, cutting and juxtaposing objects. He uses the techniques of lithography and airbrush. His favorite subject is the environment/urban landscape. If he probes the smallest details, his interest is particularly focused on the industrial world. Places on the bangs of cities, underground, railroad yards, everything is a source of inspiration for him. The elements of this setting are often associated with female beauty. Portrait or body parts, the woman is put in opposition with the industrial world/material universe. His most recent work "People in the City" is the most edifying example.