Horst Antes
Born in 1936, painter, graphic artist, and sculptor, known for his "Kopffüßler" (Cephalopods).
The oeuvre of Horst Antes, born in 1936 in Heppenheim (Bergstraße), Germany, has had a lasting influence on 20th-century art. After studying at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe under the famous woodcutter artist HAP Grieshaber, he held significant solo exhibitions in cities such as London, New York and Tokyo.
Antes works as a painter, sculptor and ceramist and is associated with the New Figuration art movement that emerged at the end of the 1950s, marking a return to figurative forms in contrast to abstract art. Through his use of colour and symbolism, Antes evokes the mysteries of sensation and the fateful compulsion to continue existence. With his invention of the "Kopffüßler" (literal translation: Head-Footer), he explains in a cheerfully ironic way the deformity and reducibility of civilised humans.
Already at a young age, he was honoured with important German and international art prizes, including the 1961 Kunstpreis Junger Westen in Recklinghausen, the 1962 Villa-Romana-Prize, the 1963 Villa-Massimo-Prize, UNESCO Prize for Painting at the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966, Premio Marzotto-Europa, Valdagno 1968. He participated in documenta III, IV and V. 1965-67 (and 1984-2000), he held a professorship at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and in 1967-68, he had a guest professorship at the State University of Fine Arts in Berlin. In 1991, he received the Art Prize of the State of Baden-Württemberg, the Hessian Cultural Prize, and the Grand Prize of the Biennale San Paolo.
Since 1971, Horst Antes has been living as a freelance artist in Karlsruhe, Germany and Italy. His sculptures for the Regional Garden Show in 1967, in Germany called Bundesgartenschau brought him to the attention of a broader public. Today, his paintings and sculptures are exhibited in many major collections and museums around the world, such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Staatsgalerie in Munich, the Sprengel Museum in Hanover and the Kunsthalle in Hamburg.
