Karl Horst Hödicke: Berlin kommt nach Niedersachsen

Commenting on the historical influences that have shaped Berlin's culture and sense of design, Hödicke's broad brushstrokes and emotive color palette imbue his works with a blurred, as-seen-through-memory quality. In an early painting like Passage (1964), for example, the textured surface and fluid contours instill Hödicke's subject-matter with a psychedelic sheen. Reflecting the period in which it was made, Passage showcases modern conveniences against an Impressionistic backdrop.

In later works like Trichter-Teppich (1995), the viewer looks directly onto a Berlin which is constantly renovating itself after the fall of the Berlin wall. Looking out onto the city directly, rather than observing someone else observe it, the viewer shares in the unsettling anxiety of not knowing where reconstruction will lead. Between these two extremes of direct and mediated observation, Hödicke also depicts domestic interiors, urban signage, and characters drawn from all walks of life.

Born in Nuremberg in 1938, K. H. Hödicke moved to Berlin at the age of nineteen to pursue his studies at the Hochschule der Künste (now the Universität der Künste), where he would later teach as a professor from 1974 until 2006. A co-founder, in 1964, of Großgörschen 35, a revolutionary cooperative gallery in West Berlin, Hödicke has continued to make a profound mark on the Berlin art scene. His prolific body of work includes paintings, sculptures, and films. His work has been exhibited in many group exhibitions and solo exhibitions. Important solo shows include: K.H. Hödicke - Eine Retrospektive, Pinakothek der Moderne Munich, Germany (2020), Frühe Objekte - späte Bilder, selected by René Block, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin, Germany (2018), KARL HORST HÖDICKE, Ich Bin Ein Berliner, Tajan, Paris, France (2017), K. H. Hödicke Malerei, Skulptur, Film, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany (2013), Der Traum, Kunstmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria (1999), K.H. Hödicke Havapaintamilkaday Bilder von der Westküste Irlands 1981 - 1996, Kunsthalle in Emden, Emden, Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, Daniel-Pöppelmann-Haus, Herford, Sinclair-Haus, Bad Homburg v.d. Hohe, Germany (1997), K. H. Hödicke. Berliner Ring, Orangerie Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin / Kunstpalast, Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf im Ehrenhof, Düsseldorf, Germany (1993), Im 20. Jahrhundert, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin | K.H. Hödicke, Kunst in Berlin, Berlin, Germany (1988), K.H. Hödicke, Gemälde Skulpturen Objekte Filme, K20 Grabbeplatz, Dusseldorf, Germany and  Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany (1986), Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, NY, USA (1983 and 1981), K. H. Hödicke Bilder 1962 - 1980, Haus am Waldsee, Der Ort internationaler Gegenwartskunst in Berlin, Berlin, Germany (1981), Filme 1968-71, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany (1972), Passagen, Verzerrungen, Galerie René Block, Berlin, Germany (1965). Concurrently to this exhibition at Schloss Derneburg Museum, Karl Horst Hödicke is honored with a retrospective at Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.