Heiko Müller

Overview

Heiko Müller works as an independent artist. His works have been exhibited in his hometown of Hamburg as well as in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Paris, Saint Petersburg and Tartu. He also curated several exhibitions in Hamburg. He has a design diploma from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and is also working as a professional media designer and illustrator. He is living with his wife and his two sons near Hamburg.

Work

Heiko Müller's paintings take their inspiration from such diverse sources as medieval icons, Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, folk art and contemporary comics. He gained first attention by combining medieval Christian icons with modern digital art. His latest work is close to the American lowbrow and pop surrealism movement. Characteristics of his paintings are animal illustrations with a very dark and apocalyptic mood, often appearing like modern takes on Bosch or Bruegel motifs. In his own words, he's "particularly thrilled by the kind of spiritual terror you find expressed in the paintings of the old Flemish masters, [...] trying to find out what happens when you apply that mood to the serene and harmless world of rural folk art."
Müller's most recent work marks a return to painting after a long period of drawing with coloured pencils, during which he developed special techniques to make the drawings appear like oil paintings. His preferred media are acrylic and oil on paper and oil on canvas, complemented by pencil drawings. Müller's art is exhibited and bought almost as often in the USA as in his native Europe.

Exhibitions

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Publications