He studied at Muthesius Hochschule fur Kunst und Gestaltung, Kiel (1992–93) and the Hochschule fur angewandte Wissenschaften, FB Gestaltung Professor Dieter Glasmacher, Hamburg (1993–98).
Gerhard paints large-scale canvases of rural communities, but with an unsettling atmosphere.
Images include a cabin in the woods or a skyline dotted with refineries.
He uses delicate spills of colour and heavy brushwork, as well as drips, splashes and smears.
Gerhard has shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Arndt & Partner in Zurich and Stellan Holm Gallery in New York.