Heijo Hangen

1927, Bad Kreuznachu, Germany

Závodný Gallery presents the solo show of Heijo Hangen, artist who is well known and respected at the European art level. The exhibition was prepared with the cooperation of the German art critic and journalist Hans-Peter Riese, who is also the author of Hagen´s voluminous monography.

Heijo Hangen is a German artist who has been involved in the geometric abstraction since the early 1950s. From 1947 to 1950 he studied at the Landeskunstschule in Mainz. We can observe the development of his paintings from small portraits and still lifes to playful compositions based on simplified lines. Inspiration for these compositions and reliefs was certainly drawn from the works of J. Miró and A. Calder.

At the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, Hangen´s drawings and oil paintings became increasingly systematic, first works in series were created. In 1962 he designed a constructivist module based on a square divided by two diagonals. This representation and its numerous variations became known as Modulform. As of now, these modules have become the signature style of the artist´s artwork.

Already in the 1970s, Heijo Hangen´s works were well received and presented in prominent European institutions and galleries. He was invited to attend the Documenta exhibition in Kassel /1977/ and received a residency in Villa Massimo in Rome /1976/.

Heijo Hangen has been living and working in Koblenz since 1956.  His lifetime artwork is presented as a permanent exhibition in the new part of the Mittelrheinmusea. In the past he also worked in Bonn as a teacher at the American education centre of the U.S.I.S. Between 1977 and 1993 he was Associate Professor at Europäische Academie für Bildene Kunst in Trier.

A large part of Heijo Hangen's work has instead of a title just a numerical designation. This facilitates not only the classification and dating of his works, but also refers to the essential characteristic of them – the ranking of the paintings in series in a relation to a pre-defined and examined topic.

In 2011, Heijo Hangen received the prestigious Peter C. Ruppert Award for Concrete Art in Europe. His works are represented in numerous European institutions as well as in private collections.