Heiko Müller

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.

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 US as in his native Europe.

Solo shows: • 2001 “PXP-Guy presents: Black Lines”, Galerie Hinterconti, Hamburg, Germany • 2004 "Legendae Aureae", Deutsches Kulturinstitut, Tartu, Estonia • 2009 "Stay Awake", Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, USA • 2012 "Hunting Night and Day", Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, USA • 2012 "Furtivos", etHALL, Barcelona, Spain • 2013 "The Daily Mood of Heiko Müller", Alexandra Grass Gallery, Bielefeld, Germany • 2013 "The Watching Hour", Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy • 2014 "Glades", Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg, Germany Group shows (selection): • 1997 "Junge Hamburger", with Henning Kles and Till Gerhard, Studio Galerie, Hamburg • 1997 "Experiment Bilderbuch", Stadtmuseum Oldenburg • 1998 various exhibitions at the Büchergilde Gutenberg in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin. • 2001 "S.K.A.M.finale", S.K.A.M. Studio, Hamburg • 2001 “Kopfankopf in AUGENHÖHE”, Kunststück, Hamburg • 2003 “Tag der Toten”, with Henning Kles and Till Gerhard, Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg • 2005 "Territory #4" Exhibition & Release Party, OFR Publications, Paris • 2005 "14 Illustratoren", Galeria Pequeña, Frankfurt am Main • 2005 "Spezialitäten", Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg • 2006 "Visual Residue", CB's 313 Gallery, New York • 2006 "Winged Doom vs. Reeperbahn Rumble", with Marcus Schäfer, Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg • 2006 "Haare", Galeria Pequeña, Frankfurt am Main • 2006 "That New Dork Smell ", Toyroom, Sacramento • 2006 "Beasts", Belle & Wissell, Seattle • 2006 "Don't Wake Daddy", Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg • 2006 "NeighborWOOD", Compound Gallery, Portland • 2007 "The Wurstminster Dog Show", Portland • 2007 "Charity by Numbers", Los Angeles • 2007 "Happily Ever After?", Seattle • 2007 "Art Dorks Collective", Thinkspace Art Gallery, Los Angeles • 2007 "Art Dorks Squared", The McCaig-Welles Gallery, New York • 2007 "Rome is Burning/The New School", The Foster Gallery - Haas Fine Arts Center, Eau Claire (Wisconsin) • 2007 "Don't Wake Daddy II", Feinkunst Krüger & RAUM 21, Hamburg • 2007 December Charity Show, The Project Gallery, Los Angeles • 2008 "Deep Pop", Kenneth Chapman Gallery, New Rochelle (New York) • 2008 "Pop Subversion at Ad Hoc Art", New York • 2008 "A Cabinet Of Natural Curiosities", Roq La Rue Gallery, Seattle • 2008 "The World of Urban Contemporary Art", Intoxicated Demons, Berlin • 2008 "Art Dorks Collective", DVA Gallery, Chicago • 2008 "4 Faces of Foofaraw" with Femke Hiemstra, Fred Stonehouse and Anthony Pontius, Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg • 2008 "10 Jahre Feinkunst Krüger", Westwerk, Hamburg • 2008 "The Inaugural Show", T & P Fine Art, Philadelphia • 2008 "Don't Wake Daddy III", Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg • 2008 X-MAS 08, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen • 2009 "Mixed Palette" at the Recoat Gallery, Glasgow • 2009 "Superschool" (curated by Lola) at Copro Nason Gallery, Santa Monica, CA • 2009 "OCHO número atómico" at ROJO Artspace Barcelona • 2009 "Boarding Gat"e (curated by Alexandra Kollaros) at K-art, Athens • 2009 "Kunst im Tresor", Munich • 2009 "Urban Art" at Galleri Jan|Zen, Aalborg, Denmark • 2011 "Shades of Ray" Color Ink Book's 3rd Anniversary show at WWA gallery Culver City, CA