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 Capitain Petzel, Berlin (2022), Petzel, New York (2020), and has also shown at Capitain Petzel, Berlin (2019); LC Queisser, Tbilisi (2019); Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf (2019); among others. She has participated in numerous group shows including at Le Consortium, Dijon, (2023); The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire (2022-23); Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (2022); Boros Foundation at Berghain, Berlin (2020) Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2020); Saatchi Gallery, London (2018); Tanya Leighton, Berlin (2017); Good Press, Glasgow (2016); and Basis, Frankfurt (2015).

Heinze has a forthcoming exhibition at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in 2024 that will be accompanied by an extensive exhibition catalogue.

Heinze’s works are in the collections of the Musée d‘Art Moderne de Paris; MAMCO, Geneva; Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; The Hepworth Wakefield, UK; Marguerite Hoffman Collection, Dallas; ICA Miami; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin.