Biography
Born 1961 in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, Germany
Studied, lived and worked in Los Angeles, USA, 1991 – 2011
Living and working now in Bielefeld, Germany
Education
BFA, Graphic Design, Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Germany, 1981 – 1986
MFA, Graphic design, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, USA, 1991 – 1994
Extra Curricular Activities
Classes and workshops in Dance, (Modern, Jazz, Tap, African Dance), Dance Therapy, Movement Studies, Improvisation, Tai Chi, Vienna Dance Weeks, Bielefeld Dance Weeks, Singing in Germany and USA.
Ensemble „Extra Ballet“ at the Bielefeld Stadttheater, Germany, 1986 – 1988.
“Spririt of Joy” (Gospel choir), Bielefeld, since 2014.
Taiko classes (Japanese percussion instrument), Bielefeld since 2024.
Professional Career as Graphic Designer
1986 – 1990 designwork in Bielefeld, Germany
1994 – 2010 userinterface designer/ design director in various design studios and software companies in Los Angeles.
He received 2 Emmy Awards with Zetools for his interactive design work, 2004/ 2005.
He received recognition at the London Advertising Awards 1999. Ludger’s design work has been published in Graphis Interactive 2001.
Exhibitions as Painter
2005 Brewery Spring Art Walk, Los Angeles “Found in Translation”
2005 Brewery Fall Art Walk, Los Angeles “Along the lines of my experience”
2006 Brewery Spring Art Walk, Los Angeles “Life Scores”
2006 Group Show at Another Year in LA, Los Angeles, “Gift Shop”
2009 Open House Little Tokyo Lofts, Los Angeles, “The Heart of that Liveness is Movement”
Studied painting with Philippa Blair, Venice, San Pedro, USA, 2001 – 2010
2011 Wiedenbrücker Schule Museum, Rheda Wiedenbrück, Germany, „2 Maler – 2 Generationen – 2 Perspektiven“
2022 Group Show at Künstlerhaus Lydda, Bielefeld, “Wachsehen & Traeumen”
2023 Group Show at Künstlerhaus Lydda, Bielefeld, “Die unbekannte Schoene”
2023 Group Show at Künstlerhaus Lydda, Bielefeld, “Melting Pot V”
2023 Group Show at Künstlerhaus Lydda, Bielefeld, “Staunen und Finden”
2023 Group Show at Künstlerhaus Lydda, Bielefeld, “Melting Pot VI”
2023 Summer Camp Painting, Künstlerhaus Lydda, Bielefeld
Academic studies in visual communication have equipped Ludger with a strong conceptual foundation—tools that continue to shape and inform his visual practice. Alongside this, independent explorations in the performing arts, particularly singing and dance, root his work in the body, in movement as an immediate and physical language of human expression.
Within his paintings, movement becomes narrative—a point of departure, a springboard into unfolding stories and evolving series, not unlike visual storyboards. The human body—face, mask—emerges as a recurring symbol of the human condition, shifting through roles, states, and transformations.
Drawing and painting remain Ludger’s most intimate and essential languages. They offer a direct, unmediated connection between body and surface, gesture and mark—where movement translates into form, and presence leaves its trace.