Hubert Kretzschmar was born in 1954, in Karlsruhe, Germany. He began his career as a graphic artist and illustrator after studying visual communication and painting at Essen‘s Folkswang University, under Willy Fleckhaus and Helmut Sundhausen, and with Josef Beuys in Düsseldorf in 1974. In 1978, he settled in New York (where he still lives) and devoted himself to illustration and pioneering works of photography, video, sculpture and computer graphics.
During the 1980s, he participated in, and extensively documented the movement of the graffiti-art scene off the streets and into New York‘s fine-art galleries. He has designed iconic album covers for legends of rock and pop music (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop, Kraftwerk to name a few), as well as graphics and designs for most major record labels. His commercial client roster includes names like Apple, TimeWarner, Viacom, Sony, Nike and Thurn und Taxis.