heijo hangen was, with jo delahaut, the first artist in our edition, in 1967. we reserved a stand in the frankfurt bookfair, but with shock we realized, that we were not able to print the planned graphics in silkscreens technique. heijo hangen and also jo delahaut were nevertheless able to, and they printed their own pieces for the edition hoffmann. so we didn’t stand there empty-handed but rather with heijo hangen, jo delahaut and many future artists in our edition and gallery. we shared our enthusiasm for konstruktiv art, invented this profession for us, it worked.
heijo hangen died 8 july 2019. there will be a heijo + gisela hangen foundation, led by claudia blum-frerichs + simone hangen. his last exhibition was celebrated in 2018 by the galerie zavodny, sk. jörg stürzebecher presented the first report after heijo hangens death in 2019 in the magazine "form".
heijo hangen worked since the 1960s with a basic form, a module developed from a square divided by diagonals. in his paintings, his montages, his sculptures, the many graphic portfolios, prints and book designs, even some jewelry designs for his wife gisela. he was excited by building with these modules, for instance, by addition, turning, shifting, turning them up or down, combining them on their axes to larger units. his principle is not repetitive, not a march, it is playful, it liberated him as an observer to thinking up and creating new possibilities. he achieved this as a constructor. as a painter he discovers the large, often unexpected richness of his colors, his color combinations on his basic form, the specially divided square. he didn’t want to work as a pedagogue with modular construction kits. he researched, tried, planned, brooded and surprised himself and us. we are showing works from the 1960s to the present.
anett frontzek gets as a present a stack of old sea charts, radio charts for military purposes, navigation maps, charts of the ocean depths, she says, “ I have a great idea”, and later, seduced by these charts, she is searching for maps with other purposes. therefore she goes to famous switzerland. here she finds maps and charts of mountain ranges, deep glaciers, road maps for certain activities, maps with beautiful hiking routes, ski slopes, ski lifts, water charts and more. their purpose determines the form of the paths, they never can be current, as they were created with great effort or they reflect ongoing actions, if already built, they can be visionary or have their political reason. these charts have something in common, they lead through heights and depths, goals and times, the visible (constructed), visionary (the planned), and more, the available invisible, like radio waves, radar, heat, cold, smells, tastes, gravity, pulling, pushing away, feeling and more, on an area. all this can be displayed on old maps.
with the special view of on artist, anett frontzek works in a new manner with these charts, she sees some paths as exciting, beautiful, lonesome, as dead end. she draws, but adds nothing to the charts, she removes the line on both sides of the map. regarding technique: the thin, flat, chosen plane and cut line remains on the old chart, connected with their edges, the lines are assembled between two panes of glass, the panes are assembled at a distance to the wall, the distance becomes space, the montage throws shadows, wandering shadows and therefore time. her view as an artist liberates things, such as the sea depths, whose floor we associate meanwhile with the “contamination of plastic waste”, she transforms these depths into graphite surfaces with graphite chalk. her vision disregards other kinds of knowledge.
