Untitled A-6-30

Style and Influences “I like to touch the viewer’s soul with my vibrant colors,” Gockel has said. “Often in my paintings I use elements that reflect my challenging past, when as a boy I worked in the coal mines. But my purpose is to express my joy in life and to show that we can overcome many obstacles through the expressions of life’s beauties.” During his travels, Gockel had the pleasure of meeting Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, great sources of artistic inspiration. He is also inspired by Kandinsky, Chagall, and Picasso, and he can’t forget the works of Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock. From his humble beginnings, Gockel has become one of the most prolific distributors of modern art lithographs and serigraphs in the world. With expressive use of rich, primary colors, Gockel has created an exceptional style that is undeniably unique. “Art both influences culture and imitates it,” Gockel has said. “I am influenced by the colors, symbols, textures, fibers, and designs used by different cultures around the world.” His fluid strokes on large white canvas backgrounds, done in the manner of “action painting,” have a tremendous universal appeal. Over the last decade, Gockel has enjoyed producing sculptures in bronze, silver alloy, acrylic, aluminum, and steel, participating in expositions in New York, Boston, Dublin, Madrid, Cannes, Essen, Karlsruhe, Duisburg, Bern, Athens, Innsbrück, Salzburg, Lisbon, Belgium and The Netherlands. Today, Gockel continues to participate in exhibitions and live painting performances in USA, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and France. Always active, in his “spare time” Gockel plays tennis, walks in the German forests with his two dogs, or rides Harley Davidson motorcycles with his wife. They enjoy spending time at their favorite spot at the island Sylt.