ter Hell was born in Norden, Germany, in 1954. Between 1976 and 1981, he studied under Fred Thieler at the University of the Arts in Berlin. The artist group and gallery 1/61 Berlin were founded in 1979. In 1982, he received a PS1 scholarship in New York, and the following year, he was awarded the art prize “Glockengasse” and the Philip Morris Prize “Dimensions IV – New Painting in Germany.” Ter Hell lives and works in Berlin.

Thomas Hartmann was born in Zetel in 1950. He studied at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen from 1974 to 1979 under Karl Heinrich Greune. In 1979, he worked with a scholarship at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and in 1984/1985 at Villa Massimo in Rome. In 1994, he held a guest professorship at the Pentiment Summer Academy of the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg. In 1998, he stayed at the Künstlerhaus Leschwitz near Görlitz. In 1999, he had a teaching assignment at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald. From 2005 to 2018, he was a professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg. Thomas Hartmann is a member of the German Artists Association. He lives and works in Berlin.

Costantino Ciervo was born in Naples in 1961. After studying economics and politics for two years in his hometown, he abandoned his studies to begin a career as an independent artist. He moved to Berlin in 1984. Between 1988 and 1991, he studied philosophy and art history at the Technical University of Berlin. In 1992, he became a member of the Professional Association of Berlin Artists. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1993. Since 2009, he has been a member of the German Artists Association. Ciervo lives and works in Berlin.

Albert Borchardt was born in Hitzhof/Siegkreis in 1961. He studied at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences from 1983 to 1989 under Christiane Maether and Ulf Hegewald. In 1990, he received the Villa Romana Prize, followed by a one-year study stay in Florence. In 1991, he traveled to Finland as part of the travel scholarship from the Günther Peill Foundation. He lived in various places due to various scholarships, for example in Ringenberg Castle (NRW, Germany) and at artists’ homes (Künstlerhäuser) such as in Ebernburg, Edenkoben, Worpswede and Wertingen. In 2004, he worked as a guest artist at Villa Romana, Florence. Albert Borchardt lives and works in Eschweiler.

Tom Drake Bennett was born in England in 1952 and is of Irish descent. In 1975, he moved to Berlin and studied at the University of the Arts. The following year he became a member of the artist group Old Mole. Since 1984, he has had a studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg. He lives and works in Berlin and Ireland.

Rolf Behm was born in 1952 in Karlsruhe, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts between 1972 and 1977 under Peter Ackermann, Hans Baschang, and Markus Lüpertz. After completing his studies, he came to London in 1977 as part of a DAAD scholarship and studied at the St. Martins School of Art. In 1979, he moved to Berlin. In 1984, he received a Villa Romana scholarship and studied for a year in Florence. In 1993, he participated in the 2nd German-Brazilian Artist Workshop in Maceio, Brazil. In 1994, he received a studio scholarship at the Stiftung Starke in Berlin. Rolf Behm lives and works in Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.

Lothar Böhme was born in Berlin in 1938. After an apprenticeship as a decorator, he began studying in 1957 in the Graphics class at the Master School for Arts and Crafts) in Berlin-Charlottenburg, which he left in 1961. Böhme has been working as an artist since 1981 and has also been a member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, since 1994. He belongs to the circle of the “Berliner Schule” (Berlin School), a group of artists that formed in the late 1960s in former East Berlin. Böhme lives and works in Berlin.

Willi Schmidt studied at the Kunsthochschule in Berlin-Weißensee from 1977 to 1983. Since then he has been working as a freelance artist. Willi Schmidt lives and works in Teupitz, Brandenburg.

Peter Schubert was born in Dresden in 1929. He studied painting at the University of Fine Arts in Dresden from 1947 on. He left Dresden in 1949 in favor of Stuttgart to study under Willi Baumeister there starting in 1950. From 1952-53 he studied under Fernand Léger in Paris. He then studied under Hans Uhlmann at the Academy of Arts in Berlin from 1954-57. From 1957 onwards, Schubert worked as artist. Schubert died in Berlin in 2021.

Brigitte Handschick was born in Berlin in 1939. She studied at Master School for Arts and Crafts in Berlin-Charlottenburg but had to abandon her studies in West Berlin after the Wall was built. From 1961, she worked as a painter, graphic artist and book illustrator in East Berlin. From 1987 to 1990, she held a teaching position at the College for Advertising and Design in Berlin-Schöneweide. Handschick died in Berlin in 1994.