Salomé, apparently named Wolfgang Ludwig Cihlarz, was born in Karlsruhe on 24 August 1954. The artist went to Berlin in 1973 and eked out a living by standing model for other artists. The decision to become an artist himself was growing. Salomé started to study art under Ulrich Knipsel at the University of Arts in Berlin. In 1977 the artist set up the gallery at the Moritzplatz together with Rainer Fetting, Helmut Middendorf and Bernd Zimmer. After he had finished his studies he had his artistic breakthrough with the exhibition "Heftige Malerei" at the "Haus am Waldsee" in Berlin. He was invited to the Documenta VII in 1982. In those years, the artist commuted between Berlin and New York. In 1999 Salomé finally moved to Berlin.