Born in Stuttgart in 1941, Uwe Lausen began teaching himself to paint watercolours and do woodcuts while still at school, showing a gift for composition at an early age. After passing the examinations qualifying him for university entrance, Lausen enrolled at Tübingen University in law and philosophy but soon dropped out to devote himself to art. At nineteen Uwe Lausen moved to Munich, where he painted and did prints, influenced by the 'SPUR' group. Then Abstract Expressionism and art brut became the prevailing influences on Lausen's work. During the 1960s he followed the ideas informing Nouveau Réalisme, doing collages incorporating wallpaper, photos and pictures gleaned from the print media. At the same time Uwe Lausen produced Surrealist landscapes with fragmented bodies and monochrome Colour Field paintings in large formats. Between 1966 and 1969 a style close to realism associated with both Pop art and Hyperrealism and incorporating psychologically destructive imagery predominated in Lausen's work. These paintings represent a highly sensitive reflection of social reality in the 1960s. Lausen's late motifs stemmed from the subculture with political overtones, the drug scene and criminal environments and he dealt with the world as he found it analytically, directly and often brutally. At an early age Uwe Lausen was successful in the Federal Republic of Germany, with exhibitions in Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin and Paris. In 1969 Uwe Lausen left Munich for Switzerland, where he committed suicide in 1970.