Eberhard Havekost

Roberts Projects is pleased to present a survey of paintings from 1998 to 2015 by the German artist Eberhard Havekost, whose work explored the parallels between systemic ideas of perfection and the modes of ideal image construction. Working from his own collection of photos and video footage, Havekost used a computer to alter the original images: hues became subtly distorted, while forms were imperceptibly stretched and skewed. These modifications became further translated through Havekost’s manual process of painting. The final image wasn’t one of photographic precision, but instead a series of transient moments that capture an abstracted perception. The intentional ‘errors’ make the image appear more natural and visually pleasing, while the attenuated distortion transforms an instance of banality into one of harmonious beauty.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Eberhard Havekost (1967–2019) was born in Dresden, Germany, the son of a sculptor and a taxidermist. As a student of the renowned Dresden Kreuzschule, he sang with the Kreuzchor and participated in international concert tours until his voice changed. After graduating in the mid-eighties, he completed his training as a stonemason. Before the fall of the wall, Havekost fled from East to West Germany via Budapest in 1989. From 1991 to 1996, he studied painting at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, finishing his time as a master student of Ralf Kerbach. In 1995, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Gebr. Lehmann in Dresden. Havekost received a scholarship in the mid-nineties to go to Frankfurt, where he immersed himself in the techno club scene, and later moved to Berlin where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. In 2010, Havekost was appointed Professor of Painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

Havekost’s work has been presented in numerous solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria; Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germany. Recent gallery exhibitions include Eberhard Havekost: Paintings 1998-2016, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY (2023); Zufall–Bilder aus den Jahren 2017–2019, CFA, Basel, Switzerland (2024); and Havekost meets: Hermann Glöckner (with Hermann Glöckner), Galerie Gebr. Lehmann, Dresden, Germany (2024).

Works by Eberhard Havekost are included in significant permanent collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco­, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris, France; Tate Modern, London, UK; Städel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany; Kunstmuseum, Luzern, Germany; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Neue Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany; Sammlung des Bundes, Bonn, Germany; Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk, Cottbus, Germany; Kupferstich-Kabinett und Galerie Neue Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany; Kunstfonds des Freistaates Sachsen, Dresden, Germany; Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Germany; Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Germany; Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany; Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, München, Germany; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germany; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland and Albertinum SKD, Dresden, Germany.