Florian Heinke
Biography
Heinke's paintings are deeply political, aggressive, and subversive of the status quo. They are a critique of contemporary society and its role models, the art market, and the role of the artist while simultaneously revealing an underlying nostalgia for an impossible world. For Heinke, black paint is the "radical medium" expressing emotion and the power of media and art production. Even though his imagery is reminiscent of advertisements and his subjects derive from traditional and digital media sources, the artist clarifies that his intention is to subvert his very own inspiration: to create a polemic poster. The subject matters of his paintings are often celebrities, while some of his works depict nude over sexualised female bodies in various poses. For Heinke, celebrities are merely a symbolic medium, while the nude body represents the wish for beauty, hope, and something you have lost and wish to get back in life. Unlike advertising, his paintings neither promise nor deliver an answer. Instead of creating a false desire, they appeal to the unconscious and reveal an unpleasant knowledge of the viewer's innermost thoughts. It's all about the beholder.
Through his work, the artist presents a dark and apocalyptic version of not only contemporary society but our inner world.
Study
2004 Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Prof. Friedemann Hahn
2005 – 2009 Staedelschule Frankfurt am Main, Prof. Christa Naeher
2009 Meisterschüler, Prof. Christa Naeher
Solo Exhibitions
2019 LOVECRAFT, Bernhard Knaus Fine Art, Frankfurt
2018 Paradise overdosed, Bookrelease & 10 years Black Pop, Frankfurt
2017 In Memoriam-Francesca Lowe, Old Truman Brewery Salon der Gegenwart, Hamburg Mit Kunst für die Kunst, Kunsthalle Darmstadt Über den Umgang mit Menschen, wenn Zuneigung im Spiel ist. Sammlung Klein, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart Expressive gestures, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt Vulgaerimpressionismus, Kunstverein Noerdlingen Street Semiotic, Charlie Smith London Comic debris, RAE Lentzke
2016 Alles wird gut, Charlie Smith London Black Paintings, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt Doppelgaenger, Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles
2015 Black paintings, Charlie Smith London Kunsthalle Darmstadt But the gods, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt Acid on tea, Galerie Römerapotheke, Zürich This will not be here tomorrow, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt Goa / Alptraum, Salon de Lirio, Salcete
2014 The opinion makers, Londonnewcastle Project Space, London The Future can wait, Saatchi´s New Sensations & The Future can wait, Victoria House, London Cultus Deorum, Saatchi Gallery, London Abstraktion Figuration, Galerie Dr. Jochim, Celle Anthology, Charlie Smith London Im Dschungel, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt Deltabeben, Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen Obsessiv, Villa Renata, Galerie Römerapotheke, Basel The Great War, Charlie Smith London
2013 Der faule Biss, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt Obscura, Villa Renata, Galerie Roemerapotheke, Basel Wurzeln weit mehr Aufmerksamkeit widmen, Museum Lytke, Leipzig Painting of today!, Artspace Rhein-Main, Offenbach System of diplomatic Chaos, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden
2012 Vom Walde, Skimuseum Hinterzarten Bang! Bang! Tatort Kunst, Haus fuer Kunst Uri, Altdorf, CH Gesichtsverlust,Kunstverein Viernheim (Metro Manila Quezon City) / Alptraum, Green Papaya Art Projects, Maila Six Flags – Trouble in Paradise, Beta Pictoris Gallery, Birmingham Kein Gott und seine Kinder, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden South Africa / Alptraum, Goethe Institute Johannesburg Kampfkunst oder die Schule des Sehens, Galerie Roemerapotheke, Zürich Troops would love to die., Kunstverein Heppenheim
2011
Alptraum, Cell Project Space, London Fragile Helden, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt A Beer to spill them into dust., Waikato Museum, Intraspace Project, Hamilton, NZ Alptraum, The Company, Los Angeles Is this (a) painting?, Beta Pictoris Gallery, Raum 2, Birmingham Saluting the end, Jaus Project Space, Los Angeles 100 Million Angels singing, Jens Fehring Gallery, Frankfurt Limits and desperate, Gail Schoentag Gallery, Sag Harbor When poets die, Galerie Anita Beckers, Frankfurt
2010 Love Kills,Commerzbankplaza, Frankfurt The last curs fight the bricks., Galerie Perpetuel, Frankfurt Love Kills, Betting on the muse, Frankfurt Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear, Ringstube, Mainz Alptraum, The Transformer, Washington DC
2009 Die Dinge des Lebens, Galerie P13, Heidelberg Still my own Idol, PSM Gallery, Berlin Dude, Where is my carreer, Absolventenausstellung, MMK, Portikus, Frankfurt Lob der Kritik, Fruehsorge Contemporary Drawings, Berlin
2008 A fast way downstairs, Collection Lenikus, Wien Paradise Overdosed, Campagne Premiere, Berlin Pervers durchs Paradies, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt Simple exploding man, Artnews Projects, Berlin
2007 No return, Ausstellungshalle 1A, Frankfurt Lachende Zeugen, Raum Acapulco, Düsseldorf It takes something to make something, Sammlung Rausch, Portikus, Frankfurt
2006 The Beautyfull End. Scheissbilder, Orban und Streu, Frankfurt You cant smile without changing the Landscape, Georg Scholz Haus, Waldkirch
2005 Leidenschaft Mich, Landungsbruecken, Frankfurt Sturm vor der Ruhe, Kultureller Foerderkreis Buchschlag, Frankfurt
Awards
2008 Grant Lenikus Collection Vienna
2009 Grant Frankfurter Künstlerhilfe e.V.
2011 Grant cultural department of the city of Frankfurt am Main, Artists in Residence Vienna
2012 – 2014 Lectureship Painting, Johannes Gutenberg University2013 / Anthology Award, London
2015 Encouragement Award Kunsthalle Darmstadt
2017 Unseld Grant Chateau de Drouilles
