Markus Vater (b. 1970, Düsseldorf) studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and the Royal College of Art in London. His diverse artistic practice spans drawing, painting, writing, animation, photography, performance, and sculpture. He has participated in numerous national and international exhibitions, including at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museum Gertsch in Switzerland, Kunsthalle Mannheim, The Royal Academy in London, Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, Wilhelm Hack Museum, and Sprengel Museum in Hannover. Vater has exhibited with galleries including Timothy Taylor, Vilma Gold, ibid-projects, Anthony d'Offay, Sies+Hoeke Gallery, and Rupert Pfab Gallery in Düsseldorf. From 1995 to 2003, he was part of the artist collective hobbypopMuseum, and in 2003, he won the German Villa Romana Scholarship.

Currently a Professor of Painting/Drawing and Interdisciplinary Studies at HBK Essen, Vater has also held teaching roles at Goldsmiths College London, the Slade School of Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, HFBK Hamburg, and the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe. He has worked on public art projects for the Fundament Foundation in Tilburg and General Public Agency in London. Vater lives and works in London, Folkestone, and Düsseldorf, and is represented by Rupert Pfab Gallery in Düsseldorf and Galerie Peter Zimmermann in Mannheim.