Hannes Heinrich
Artwork’s Title: POSE I
Materials Used: Canvas, Oil, Ink, Acrylic paint
Studio Based: Munich
Can you tell us about the process of making your work?
My process is always changing as I don t want to stick to a general recipe. But I often start already while technically preparing the canvas with developing the final picture. For example I sketch on the canvas before stretching it onto the frame or I use different pigments with every priming layer. Every work step taken becomes part of what you eventually see as the he final result.
How would you define your work in a few words (ideally in 3 words)?
Head, Hand, Heart.
How did you come up with this new painting idea? Is there any story behind this work?
There is not one specific idea or story behind my work. It is rather a feeling of an idea or a question, coming from my thoughts and notes and earlier works. The act of making and the material itself are an essential counterpart in finding the picture. Its a constant back and forth between making and thinking.
Do you always come up with a particular concept or narrative in the very beginning? And how important are experiments for your work?
Before I start I have a lose idea of the sequence of the layers I want to apply and the different materials I want to work with. Canvas, Ink, Oil, Acrylic, Charcoal and Crayons have different needs and qualities. I try to keep it vague enough to be able to react to what is happening in the process. Experiments are necessary for me to expand my language and to overcome my own expectations. It is like asking myself a question of which i feel like knowing the answer to discover that I did not.
Is there any particular theme that utterly triggers you to engage your art with?
Hmmm there are a lot different things that activate me and make me want to express myself. My most consistent source of inspiration oscillate between reading, seeing and absorbing things as much as simply confronting myself with my work.
Do you prefer working on large or small scale canvases?
Actually for me the most challenging format is often the in-between-size. Changing the scale helps me to get a different perspective when I feel stuck while choosing one format and sticking to it is helpful to structure myself when I feel lost..
What would be the best way to exhibit your work?
When it comes to my paintings two nails and a flat white wall in which you can hammer them is fine. I love a clean and light white cube space but the reality is often different. So I actively try not to envision one ideal version but rather think about strange environments like a flee market. If your work works there it probably works anywhere. (But as soon I have an upcoming show I try to plan as much as possible. Often when I am finally in the exhibition space everything is different and is necessary to look, react and make decisions wouldn`t have come up with before.)
Can you mention artists you, lately or generally, have taken inspiration from?
Besides artists like Agnes Martin, Edouard Manet, Nicholas Grafia, Nicole Eisenman and Paul Mpagi Sepuya, authors such as Susan Sonntag, Wolfgang Herrndorf, Didier Eribon, Gilles Deleuze, James Baldwin, Hengameh Yagobifarrah and Hannah Arendt are important influences to name just a few.
Do you ever wonder if additional work was needed, when an artwork’s making process is finished?
Yes i do. If I doubt a paining too much for too long i like to use the grinding machine to take layers of paint away again. In this process the painting gets often completely destroyed, but it gives the ones that survived more purpose.
It feels like cleaning.
What about the place where you work? What’s your studio space look like?
I work in a 48 qm basement consisting of two rooms. Luckily the ceilings are high enough so that i don t get to claustrophobic.
Which exhibition did you visit last?
The very fresh and impressive exhibition „Flesh and Time and Bread and Friends“ curated by Kristina Schmidt at Galerie Christine Mayer in Munich.
Which are your plans for the near future?
Work more, travel more, read more.
Additional Images
All images courtesy of the artist