Heikedine Günther
Artist’s profile
Most important solo exhibitions
«Heikedine Günther», M54 Basel, 2020
«The Core is now!» Galerie Artem-Reich, Unterer Heuberg, Basel, 2019
«Heikedine Günther. Core & Cosmos» Clarakirche, Basel, 2019
Most important group exhibitions
«Re-Seen» Independent & Image Art Space, Chongqing, China, 2020
«Malamegi Art Lab 14» Associazione Culturale Imagoars, Venice, 2020
«Personal Fit: Utopie II» Kornschütte, Lucerne, 2020
Günther was born in 1966 in rural Westphalia, Germany, and has always been fascinated by art. In 1982 she took part in Joseph Beuys’ project at the Documenta 7 in Kassel, which radically opened up Günther’s approach to what art can be. Afterward, she studied at the HFBK Hamburg in the classes of Franz Erhart Walter and Werner Büttner and also took a guest semester at Martin Kippenberger’s class in Kassel. Ever since then Günther has been studying classic art and got absolutely passionate about Ottonian manuscripts and gold panel paintings. She is a book lover and collects primitive art and oceanic objects. Her own artistic practice benefits thereby from Günther’s broad knowledge of traditional old master’s techniques and her dedicated interest in poly- cultural symbols. In 2004 Günther took part in an Active Imagination after C.G. Jung and found in the search of an archetype her inner core. After that, she painted her first core painting. Ever since this experience, the idea of the core has been central in her art and she kept on developing and researching the different meanings and possibilities of this leitmotif. According to her research, the core is a universal symbol, which can be found in any culture or religion. It combines in itself microcosmic and macrocosmic relations: the core is represented in every single biological cell of our bodies and at the same time it is the basic form of every planet of the cosmic system. This universal openness of meaning creates the possibility to connect with the core on a multitude of levels.
“I am an abstract painter living in Basel and Stalden, Switzerland. My leitmotif is the “core”, encompassing everything between microcosm and macrocosm. I express my research into the theme of the core in paintings between abstraction and natural forms. Working on this I have spent several years developing a unique style of multilayered painting in my remote studio in the Swiss Alps.
I have been studying classic art while developing my own artistic practice and got a strong passion for Ottonian manuscripts and gold panel paintings. I am a book lover and collect primitive art and oceanic objects. My own works of art benefit from my broad knowledge of traditional old master’s techniques and my dedicated interest in poly-cultural symbols.” —Heikedine Güenther