Alfred Alexander Gockel
Multi Artist, Framer, Publisher & Licensor

Alfred Alexander Gockel is an artist who can't sit still. While his paintings show a fluidity of color, character, and setting, the man himself likes to keep the creative process going by not even taking the time out to let one canvas dry before working on another. In fact, he regularly works on four paintings at the same time. All are displayed before him and he moves from one to the next to the next and back again. "My aim is to paint harmony," he says. And many would agree that symmetry is something that Gockel is very good at.

Born in 1952 in the coal mining community of Lüdinghausen in Germany, Gockel lived with his parents and younger brother. At age four, his father bought him a watercolor set for Christmas after noticing that he was sketching a lot. While the surroundings may have been dark, and somewhat grim, his father knew that through art his son could put his dreams down onto paper. Both of his parents were creative, his father being a designer and his mother making lots of crafts. By age eight, he had his first release of artwork by a German publisher. "We did not have a lot of money when I was growing up," Gockel says. "My parents would take me to the zoo and I would sit down and paint for hours. They really inspired me to be an artist."

At the age of 16, Gockel started working in the coalmines, and was focusing on becoming an engineer. Then, the mining industry collapsed leaving Gockel's family and neighbors without a livelihood. The widespread unemployment forced him into the army where he spent two-and-a-half years. He then went on to study art and design at the Polytechnic Academy in Münster where he specialized in the printing process of silk-screens and lithographs. Freelance work as a designer after graduation led to working with some of Germany's major advertising agencies, all the while painting and making silk-screens.

In 1980 Gockel, now married, returned to the Polytechnic Academy, this time as a teacher where he spent four-and-a-half years. In 1983, he started his own publishing company called Avant Art in his birthplace of Lüdinghausen where he still publishes his own prints and limited edition silk-screens worldwide, bar the U.S. By 1985, Gockel had stopped teaching and focused on his art fulltime. He also realized that he wanted to see more of the world. "I decided I wanted to work outside of Germany as well," he says.
"I started out doing a show in England, then one in New York."

"I didn't know any of the rules in America and I had trouble making sales there at first." After four years of exhibiting in the U.S., Gockel med A.D. LINES located in Bridgeport, CT, and it was agreed they would handle his open edition prints and limited edition serigraphs in the U.S. The company taught him about business in America, and helped him to develop a persona that would catch an art collector's eye. "You always have to have a concept and you have to keep it simple. I like to perform and since it usually only takes between two to four hours to complete a painting, we decided that I would be the 'artist who paints live.'"

Gockel started participating in more art shows to paint and interact with the audience. Working at almost break-neck speed, Gockel has been known to create up to 400 originals a year.

"Painting is like tennis," he says. "You have to practice a lot and you have to practice everyday. With my artwork, I cannot get a feeling or idea and keep it for four weeks. I work on it and don't stop. I leave the studio when it's ready."

While Gockel works very closely with his company Avant Art, his wife of 30 years, Ingrid, also plays a big role in the business. "She's the financial person, I'm the creative."

Working in oil and acrylic on canvas, and occasionally in aquarelles, or transparent watercolor, his originals and limited edition giclées are only one part of his business. The other consists of graphics featuring more decorative images. Avant Art sells open edition prints to 50 different countries, not counting the U.S.

"For open editions, I usually paint subjects like flowers, but for originals and commissions, I need to be influenced by something. I like to meet the people who hire me to do a painting because that way I can get a feeling for them."

In his travels, Gockel has had the opportunity to meet Salvador Dali and Antonio Tàpies, and has been influenced by the work of Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. Upon traveling to the U.S., he became aware of the work of Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollock. "It's very important to see the other side of this art. I like the Americans' work because it seemed more open. In my paintings, I try to combine the language of the Old Masters with the language of what we have developed today."

And as far as inspiration for his paintings, Gockel merely gets on a plane and visits a new location.
"I travel a lot in a year and that's how I get most of my ideas. It's like when you got to an Indian restaurant, you get a different taste and smell, and you also get to meet different people."

When not painting, running Avant Art, or traveling Gockel keeps active by playing tennis and soccer, going skiing, cooking or riding one of his three Harley Davidson motorcycles. Also, following his love of cooking, he throws a fundraiser three times a year in which he rents out a restaurant and cooks for a reception that raises money for different charities.

Gockel's originals retail between $4,000 and $10,000, while the giclées range in price from $400 to $1,000. Retail prices for open edition prints range from $7 to $85. For more information contact Angela or Julie at A.D. Lines, call (800) 836-0994


- Excerpt from article by Koleen Kaffan, Art World News, June 2003

Alfred A. Gockel Collection