Björn Heyn - Me Myself & Ei

Björn Heyn - Me Myself & Ei

It is not necessary to explain Björn Heyn's works, they are beautiful and mysterious, full of temptation. While I look at a variety of forms, colours and hints, paintings come to my mind that are known to me: A quarter of a century ago the works of Picasso and Matisse were celebrated in exhibitions all over the world as represetative of the spirit of the twentieth century. At that time Björn Heyn was still a child. Today, he adds to these images Fernand Léger and uses words as images, to find out what could best be done with it to create a contemporary painting. The reaction of the observers is prompt: These works are loveable, subtle, colourful and stimulating. They are an interesting company at home to think about life.

Painting always existed, even in times of political correctness, when dualism between politics and culture did not exist anymore. While paintings don't explain things to you, they enlighten your thinking. As the great Swiss philosopher Jean Starobinski explains, enlightenment saves us from danger. Very often, images and obejects of everyday life come into Björn Heyn's focus. In a similar way, Piplotti Rist plays with the absurdity of objects by enlargening them. In the meantime Björn Heyn plays with different levels of perception. This leads to new rooms 

in a perspectively relocated sense. Both artists share an expressive love of colours.

Heyn is a visually receptive artist, looking at an exhibition of Markus Lüpertz, some elements of Lüpertz works start wandering into Heyn's. Strolling through the forest and the romatic element of such a walk immedeately adds to the spirit of his next painting. Björn Heyn's works is in harmony with his time. We share our concerns in a multifaceted effort to meet with the challenges of today. New ideas can bring about new danger, which we can discover and reflect about in a painting. Looking at an artwork and thinking about it in the whole range of ideas that are offered to us is similar to the democraticprocesses of our democratic societies.

It is exciting to have found a playful way of reflecting about our times in front of a painting. The works are misterious, charming, beautiful, tempting, my brain connects the images to forms and colours of known artworks that I have enjoyed looking at in the past beacause they were so beautiful.  At the turn of the millenium the art world agreed that Picasso and Matisse were the most important artists of the 20th century. At that time Björn Hey was still a child, he was nevertheless brought up in that spirit. Today we bring up a young generation in schools and univiersities, at work and in families that have learned to appreaciate living in a democratic world.

We are happy to publish a guest post on the occasion of our exhibition by Phillip Barth:

Björn Heyn invites us into his colorful world of objects. Under the humorous title ME, MYSELF & EI, he shows us his latest works: painting, video, installation and sculpture. We can expect a refreshing, childlike view of the everyday Familiar elements of everyday life, such as the Sunday egg, are rearranged and contextualized – the result is a remix (or scrambled eggs?) of colourful objects - familiarity creates accessibility! His paintings are technically versatile and range from classic media such as oil paint and rabbit glue to felt-tip pens from the €1 store - they can also include collaged elements such as canvas on canvas. Technically, they are probably inspired by the egg dish omelette. With multilayering, he makes it a multiplayer. The artist makes use of classic subjects such as still lifes, which he skillfully breaks up to create areas of tension. He uses perspectives very freely. Björn Heyn creates new order by disordering the familiar. The multimedia works communicate not only through playful arrangements and well-coordinated color combinations, but also through text elements. The compositions are never too harmonious, they remain exciting through bold breaks. These breaks are the result of the artist's intuitive way of
working. His close relationship with his inner child allows him to simply set off and plan for “mistakes” and “failure”: trying to realize an impulsive idea and then losing himself in the process, discovering something unexpected, enjoying it immensely and surpassing himself. Perhaps the egg is not the origin of life, but just a missed circle? Ei can do it - just do it! Björn Heyn allows himself to progress by letting himself fall back to linger in nostalgic moments of childhood. He succeeds in preserving the joy and mischievousness of the process in his works and transferring this concentrated energy of creative joy to the viewer. The intuitive creative process is like a performance. It is fun and infectious. His works teach us to allow life, to learn to love the perfection of the imperfect, to ask questions and to enjoy the joyful view of life and to find great meaning in the joy of joy alone. His works inspire us to make contact with our own inner child, perhaps to revive it and to preserve it urgently. The gift is many moments of lightness. With a marble work, however, he also shows us that art requires a lot of patience, time and work and that lightness does not come naturally. The guiding principle in Björn Heyn's work is the joy of having fun. No kidding! Fun is his “business plan”. With success: an exhibition like a visit to a colorful ball pool. Björn Heyn or the egg, which came first?

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