Manfred Heinze

Manfred Heinze , bourgeois Manfred Hans Ernst Heinze (* 1959 in Duisburg ), is a German painter , object artist and author .

Manfred Hans Ernst Heinze

Life

Manfred Heinze grew up in Duisburg-Neudorf. Between 1972 and 1975 he attended the boarding school Institut Montana on the Zugerberg , Switzerland . In 1980 he finished school with the Abitur, then studied in Essen. In 1997 he moved to Berlin. Heinze has lived and worked mainly in Osnabrück since 2012.

artistic education

While still at school, Heinze decided to become an artist and produced his first work, which was noted in the catalog raisonné. Taken by the idea of taking the concept of art as broad as possible, he became interested in architecture as the "mother of the arts". He therefore studied architecture at the University of Essen from 1981 and finished his studies in 1989 as a graduate engineer. Most of his diploma thesis on a new museum on the Acropolis in Athens was a geometrically abstract painting on a framed canvas. The University of Essen recognized it as an outstanding work with a catalog. Between 1981 and 1984 Heinze completed a distance learning course in interior design at the Neue Kunstschule Zürich. From 1983 to 1985 he took private art lessons from the artists Eric Mälzer and Klaus Urbons from Mülheim an der Ruhr, and in 1984 from the Duisburg artist Schero . In 1986, 1987 and 1988 Heinze traveled to Tuscany for drawing seminars. In 1988 he completed an apprenticeship as an electric welder in order to be able to manufacture projected objects in steel himself. In 1988 he applied unsuccessfully to Gerhard Richter at the State Art Academy in Düsseldorf , but then studied free art (architecture) in Ernst Kasper's class from 1988 to 1989 .

In 1989 Heinze traveled to New York, NY (USA) for private studies for six months, where he got to know the architecture of the Richard Meiers architectural office . Between 1990 and 1999 he also worked as a freelance architect. He intensified his artistic work and exhibition activities considerably after 2000. Since then, Heinze has concentrated exclusively on his work as a freelance artist.

Work and reception

The artist and art teacher Rolf Binder aroused enthusiasm for color and design at the Duisburg-Neudorf grammar school in Heinze in the early 1970s. Between 1972 and 1976 Heinze extended his interest to technical drawing, fascinated by the precision of the representation. The preoccupation with art, especially painting and drawing, became an increasingly important aspect of his life, which finally led to the decision to become an artist in 1977. So, triggered by an inspiration in the Duisburg gallery Atlantis, the first work, an ink drawing, was created on September 23, 1977. Heinze began archiving his works in writing and photographs as early as 1979. Starting with the drawing WV no. 00.001 of September 23, 1977, he continues the catalog raisonné without gaps to this day.

In terms of motif and technology, the first years up to 1983 were shaped by experimentation and artistic discovery. From initially thematically representational images, a predominantly abstract visual language developed over time. In the 1990s, many of the works in the » Dichotomie « group of works were created and the exhibition locations became more prominent. Between 1989 and 2000, Heinze intensified its work in artistic organizations, clubs and associations. Art and architecture mixed up again and again, both at work and for exhibitions. As part of his membership in the board of trustees of the Foundation of German Architects, Heinze supervised students at seminars in North Rhine-Westphalia. After moving to Berlin in 1997, Heinze finally ceased all of his architecture activities in 1999 and devoted himself exclusively to painting. Dealing with the group of works »cells« became the main theme of his work again from 2004 onwards. He has further developed this group of works, both technically and in terms of content, whereby the use of materials changed significantly and the cells as a whole became larger, more spontaneous and more colorful.

Visible content is generally not recognizable and is not intended by Heinze. With his painting, Heinze does not want to clarify or question anything beyond painting over a chosen background. His pictures reject a mathematical logic as well as chaos. At best, topics such as the art business , artistic practice, material history or concept development can be identified. A few works are an exception to the denial of content and position themselves politically, socially critical or simply representational. One of the recurring themes is the "Investment" series, which has been part of his work since 1980. In contrast to his paintings, his objects clearly and mostly ironically address aspects of architecture, interior design or the landscape.

Image title

The titles of the works by Manfred Heinze change in phases. Sometimes the pictures only have numbers, then the title names visible elements in the picture, or the pictures have titles that do not denote anything recognizable in the painting. Still other titles suggest content or topics through strange-sounding words, which, however, only arise from a self-developed random generator and do not make any sense. Or instead of titles, the images are given names that are also randomly taken from a dictionary for international first names. The works are rarely untitled.

Work groups

In Heinze's work, three preferred concepts dominate his work as work groups.

Work group »cells«

Since 1977. Drawn and / or painted cell-like shapes of various sizes that do not touch each other. They form an open, free filling or surface ornament without a repeat . The cells cover the image carrier completely or in part. These cells have meanwhile become an unmistakable recognition feature for the work of Manfred Heinze. The backgrounds of the works vary across the spectrum between monochrome , brightly colored, ornamental or even figurative. For the first time in 1985, and increasingly since 2014, Heinze also used industrially manufactured fabrics and decorative fabrics as a picture carrier for his cell pictures. In doing so, he breaks with all the conventions of art presentation in all of his newer works. He dispenses with a stretcher frame as well as the neat processing of the edges. Crooked cuts, cracks and hanging threads show the deliberately careless handling of the works, and not just during the creation process. For transport and storage, the works are not folded orthogonally , but diagonally or crumpled like a piece of paper. So maltreated, the works are only attached to the wall with small nails at exhibitions, so that small holes can later be seen on the edge of the picture. This procedure is intended to both thematize and appreciate the fabric as a picture surface. Through this type of processing, the work is expanded in such a way that the image carrier is no longer hidden under the image, as is the case with the otherwise usual canvas, but becomes an essential part of the image. The separation of the painting ground and the motif is abolished.

In addition, with this practice Heinze also draws attention to the madness of the transport of works of art. Every day, thousands of works of art are on the move in crazy art transport boxes around the world. They require an immense amount of logistical and financial resources and leave gigantic ecological footprints. Heinze simply folds or crumbles his pictures. So they are extremely cheap to bring from A to B. The storage, transport and rough handling describe and document the entire process of artistic practice and the development of the work. The term “picture” is only partially correct for the result of this interaction; one could basically also speak of painted objects.

Work group »Functional Sculptures«

Since 1978. The sculptural work makes up only a small part of Manfred Heinze's work. His objects are very much shaped by experiment, rather small, the materials different and without uniform characteristics that could enable a quick recognition. Common themes are architecture, interior design and landscape. With his objects, Heinze ironizes concrete everyday phenomena or the conditions in the world of things created by humans.

Work group »Dichotomy«

1980 to 2011. Free abstraction in the tension between geometry. Here gestural , painterly elements meet geometric elements. The dichotomy for the term abstraction consists of free abstraction and geometric abstraction . Today, this group of works can also be seen as the geometric variant of his most important group of works, »Cells«.

Exhibitions

The first exhibition with works by Manfred Heinze took place in 1983 in the gallery campus in Duisburg-Neudorf. In the same year his works were also on display in the Mülheim an der Ruhr art museum and in 1985 in the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg. Heinze has so far participated in over 300 group and solo exhibitions (as of 2019) including the Potsdam Museum, Zitadelle Spandau Berlin, Otto-Nagel-Galerie Berlin, Galerie / Kunstraum Medici Solothurn (CH), Prignitz-Museum Havelberg, KunstPalais Badenweiler, City Museum Duisburg, Cubus Kunsthalle Duisburg, Kunsthalle Kempten , Museum Küppersmühle Duisburg, Kunstverein Duisburg, Museum Eisenhüttenstadt, Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, Kunstverein Uelzen, Museum Kalkriese Bramsche, Mühlenhaupt Museum Berlin and in the Kunstverein Hof. Heinze has also been involved in international Mail Art exhibitions since around 2004 , provided these take place in galleries or museums. An artists' museum is planned for future exhibitions of Manfred Heinze's entire work.

Memberships

Since 1985, Heinze has been a member of the Duisburg Artists' Interest Group by participating in an exhibition of Duisburg Artists in the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum. Together with local colleagues, he founded the group “free duisburger artists” in 1987, which was registered as an association in 1990 and was a founding and board member until the association was dissolved in 2006. Due to the initial link between art and architecture, the City of Duisburg's Advisory Council for Urban Design (BEST) was founded on his initiative in 1996, to which he was a member until 1998. From 1996 to 2000 Heinze was a member of the Board of Trustees of the German Architects Foundation. In 2003 he became a member of the professional association of visual artists berlin eV (bbk). From 2003 he was also a member of the admission committee and its chairman from 2011 to 2012. Between 2007 and 2009 Heinze was a founding member and board member of the producer gallery Galerie Frenhofer eV, Berlin. From 2013 to 2019 he was on the board of the Association of Visual Artists, District Group Osnabrück in the Lower Saxony State Association

After 34 years of intensive committee work, Heinze stepped down from all offices in 2019 and has only been a simple member since then.

Awards, prizes and grants (selection)

Although Heinze repeatedly claims to refuse to compete in the art scene, he received a few honors.

• 2017 project funding, City of Osnabrück
• 2006 nomination, art prize, city of Fürstenwalde
• 1996 nomination, sponsorship award of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1994 nomination, sponsorship award from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1993 Project funding, Ministry of Culture North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1992 project funding, city of Duisburg
• 1989 Catalog funding, University of Essen
• 1988 1st prize, German Architects Foundation
• 1988 Special Prize, Thyssen Stahlbau, Essen
• 1985 Prize, facade competition color design Borbecker Platz, Essen
• 1984 Award, facade competition, Duisburg

In addition, Heinze was able to achieve a total of six 1st and 2nd prizes in architecture competitions, partly with partners.

Works in public collections

Manfred Heinze's works are part of the following public collections:

• Chamber of Architects North Rhine-Westphalia Düsseldorf
• Medici Art Space Solothurn (CH)
• Art collection of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg
• Pension scheme of the Düsseldorf Chamber of Architects
• Collection of the Brasilian Museum of Sculptures Sao Paulo
• Corinium Museum Cirencester (GB)
• Museum of Ornamental Post Toronto (CA)
• JA Hoffberg Archives Santa Barbara (US).

Publications

• Infernal & Testament . EditionKalini, Osnabrück 2018, ISBN 978-3-00-060701-1 (catalog for the exhibition in the Ruller Haus)
• Onomatopoesia [Ahh]. EditionKalini, Osnabrück 2016, ISBN 978-3-00-053045-6 (texts on the art of Manfred Heinze)
• Altar, dirndl & cosiness. EditionKalini, Osnabrück 2015, ISBN 978-3-00-049474-1 (catalog for the exhibition at Kunstverein Hof)
• The Emma Analysis. Manfred Heinze, Osnabrück 2015 (artist book)
• Badenweiler ornament. EditionKalini, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-00-036401-3 (catalog for the exhibition in the KunstPalais Badenweiler)
• with Lynn Zoé: places of longing. EditionKalini, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-00-032312-6 (catalog for the exhibition in the Pyramide exhibition center, Berlin)
• At Eka Zuznu. EditionKalini, Berlin 2008 (catalog for the exhibition in the Galerie Frenhofer, Berlin)
• On Div Ummbu. EditionKalini, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-00-021735-7 (catalog for the exhibition in the Galerie im Saalbau, Berlin)
• Functional sculptures. Self-published, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-00-015455-8 (catalog for the functional sculptures exhibition series)
• Havel country. Self-published, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-00-015187-7 (catalog for the exhibition series Havel-Land)
• Badenweiler trilogy. Self-published, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-00-013275-9 (catalog for the exhibition in the Museum Chekhov-Salon, Badenweiler)
• Atelier 1998–2003. Self-published, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-00-011147-6 (catalog of works)
• Atelier 1986–1997. Self-published, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-00-011146-8 (catalog of works)
• European Center for Culture - Acropolis - Athens. University of Essen, Essen 1989 (catalog for the diploma thesis by Manfred Heinze)
• Studio 1977–1985. Self-published, Mülheim ad Ruhr 1985, ISBN 3-00-011145-X (catalog of works)

Web links

• Website by Manfred Heinze
• Literature by and about Manfred Heinze in the art library of the Dresden State Art Collection (keyword: Manfred Heinze)
• Literature by and about Manfred Heinze in the library of the Berlinische Galerie (keyword: Manfred Heinze)