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Christian Henkel | THE PERSISTANCE OF PAINTING
THE PERSISTANCE OF PAINTING
14 June – 5 July 2025
in cooperation with
see you next tuesday, Basel
Yasmin Alt
Felix Becker
Helen von Burg
Christian Henkel
Laura Mietrup
Angelika Schori
Herbert Warmuth
Hendrik Zimmer
Prices are net, excluding VAT.
Christian Henkel
Born 1976 in Rudolstadt, DE
Lives and works in Berlin, DE
Christian Henkel studied sculpture at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden from 2000 to 2006. In 2003–2004, he expanded his academic perspective with two semesters at the Faculdade de Belas Artes in Porto, Portugal. From 2006 to 2008, he continued his studies as a master student under Professor Monika Brandmeier. Henkel later returned to HfBK Dresden as a guest lecturer and visiting professor, contributing to the academic dialogue around contemporary sculpture.
The Artist‘s practice navigates the intersections of sculpture, painting, and architecture. His works, often emerging as modular, three-dimensional constellations, challenge traditional distinctions between object and image, volume and surface. Employing a formal vocabulary rooted in geometric construction and expressive abstraction, Henkel constructs spatial systems that oscillate between clarity and disruption, logic and intuition.
A central concern in his work is the tension between fragment and structure. His sculptural objects—frequently made of painted wood and found materials— evoke architectural references, industrial remnants, or imaginary tools. By layering form and color, and reconfiguring relationships between surfaces, Henkel constructs spatial fields that resist singular interpretation and suggest associative, open-ended narratives. His wall works and freestanding sculptures act as rhythmic interruptions in space, inviting the viewer to read them both as abstract compositions and as speculative constructs. The balance of precision and improvisation, rawness and control, reflects his exploration of how forms shape, hold, and destabilize meaning.
Since his first verified exhibition in 2006 at Künstlerhaus Dortmund, Henkel’s work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Europe, including at institutions such as Schau Fenster (Berlin, 2023), Uferhallen (Berlin), and Neue Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (Gera, 2025). ÄäHenkel’s sculptures are part of private collections as well as the District Museum Dresden.
Henkel’s ongoing dialogue with material, form, and space positions his practice within a sculptural tradition that is both reflective and experimental—drawing on architectural logic while embracing the poetic ambiguity of abstraction.
