Michael Van Ofen Essen, Germany, b. 1956

Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany. Van Ofen paints representational images that are tightly cropped or simplified to the point of abstraction, just beyond immediate recognition.

He has had many solo exhibits, some are: Johnen Galerie, Berlin; Alison Jacques Gallery, London; Sies + Höke Galerie, Düsseldorf; Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo; Marc Foxx, Los Angeles, CA; Galerie Michael Cosar, Düsseldorf; Germany Galerie Galliani, Italy; Galerie Rubenstein/Diacono, New York; Bach & Gayk, Bochum, Germany; and Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich.

He has also participated in several group exhibitions: Dominic Mersch Gallery, Sidney; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA; Kunst im Tunel, Düsseldorf; Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Germany; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York; Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, Switzerland; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyongju, Korea, among others. Some of his works belong to public and private collections in Germany.