Klaus Bürgel received his training at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich, Germany and at the Goldschmiedeschule Pforzheim. Of his own work he writes: “I’m searching for a dialogue with the material. I prefer to use materials that do not like to talk, materials that are shy, locked up in themselves. Their silent power is driving me crazy. I try everything to make them open their mouths, everything to make them talk to me.” He lives and works in New York and Westport, MA.

Bürgel has had one-person exhibitions at Gallery Loup, Montclair, NJ; Sofie Lachaert Gallery, Tielrode, Belgium; Oliver Arts Center, California College of Art, Oakland, CA; Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA; Goethe Institute, Boston, MA; and Jewelers'werk Gallery, Washington, DC. Most recent group shows include Loud and Clear, New York Jewelry Week; Art Basel Miami (2016, 2012); Schmuck Munich (2013, 2000, 1995); Collect (2012, 2010), London; Caroline Van Hoek Gallery, Brussels, Belgium; Schmuck Rotunda, (Karl Fritsch, curator) Pinakothek der Moderne Munich; Des Wahnsinns Fette Beute, Neue Sammlung Munich; Adornment, Goucher College, Baltimore, MD; Micromegas, American Craft Museum; Bridge I, Gana Phyungchang-dong Gallery, Seoul, Korea; Historical Connections, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge MA; Art of Gold, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; ICE, Sienna/Heller Gallery, NYC.

In addition to teaching at RISD, Bürgel is currently teaching at NYU at the 92nd Street Y in NYC. He has also taught at Main College of Art, Portland, ME; UMass Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA; California College of Art, Oakland, CA; School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC; Westchester Art Workshop, Westchester, NY; and Parsons School of Design, NYC.