Stefanie Heinze (b. 1987, Berlin, Germany)

In Stefanie Heinze’s playful figurations, abstracted and ambiguous forms become recognizable as unexpected subjects. From disembodied body parts, to everyday objects, to animal-like figures, her subjects melt into colorful, fantastical backgrounds to create vivid visual worlds which reveal an interplay between high and low culture.

Heinze’s brightly colored, imaginative compositions are cleverly subversive in their details and symbolism, and convey rebellious but humorous social critiques, complemented with equally witty, lyrical titles. Although considered adjacent to abstract expressionism and the Leipzig school of painting, Heinze is categorically unique, as she explores new forms and possibilities of representation. The origins of her inventive paintings can be found in her intimate, delicate drawings, which capture just as much liveliness on their small scale as on the gigantic canvasses.

In the short time since graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, Heinze has exhibited widely. She has a solo exhibition at Petzel, New York (2020), and has also shown at Capitain Petzel, Berlin (2019); LC Queisser, Tbilisi (2019); Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf (2019); Mary Boone Gallery, New York (2018); and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London (2017), among others. She has participated in numerous group shows including at the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2020); Saatchi Gallery, London (2018); Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2017); Good Press, Glasgow (2016); and Basis, Frankfurt (2015).

Heinze’s works are in the collections of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami and the Marguerite Hoffman Collection, Dallas.

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