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.