Charline Von Heyl Venice Biennale Art Exhibition

Charline Von Heyl was born in 1960 in Germany; she lives and works in New York. His works are exhibited in the central pavilion of the Biennale at the Giardini.

Charline Von Heyl “Pagan Prophet”

Painting - Acrylic on linen 2021
A bright and dynamic painting with this leaping hare, running at full speed towards the other animals waiting to the right of the painting, to announce the return of sunny days.

Spring is coming, and everything comes back to life; the hare, a symbol of fertility, is associated with the resurrection of nature.

Charline Von Heyl “Primavera”

Painting - Acrylic and charcoal on linen 2020
This large black, grey and red painting is a tribute to Botticelli's famous “Spring”.

We recognize the same themes and characters, represented in grey silhouettes on a black background. On the left, Mercury raising his arm to chase the clouds, then the three dancing Graces half-hidden by a rose and a couple of white rabbits with red polka dots that leap in all directions, then we guess the silhouette of Venus, and finally the silhouette of Chloris who has become Flora after being lovingly pursued by the gentle wind Zephir that arouses blossoming flowers.

Here, the fruits of the trees have become an undulating suite of large red dots, a series of musical notes singing the hymn of an Upset Nature, which is no longer the one painted by Botticelli.

Charline von Heyl also took an interest in the springtime of human life, creating two elegant paintings on the theme of female adolescence.

Charline Von Heyl “The Nymphs”

Painting - Acrylic on linen 2020
In ancient Greece, nymphs were goddesses of a lower rank, goddesses of mountains, rivers and woods. They appeared in the form of graceful young girls who were happy to live in nature.

The painting depicts seven portraits of young girls in their eyelid frames surrounded by mouths, feminine shapes and numerous hand traces drawn on a grey-green background of tree trunks.

The delicate features of these feminine faces reflect their differences in style and temperament: cheerful, smiling, dreamy, charming, thoughtful or doubtful.

These nymphs are the eyes of nature marked by the hand of man.

Charline Von Heyl “Ninfa”

Painting - Acrylic on linen 2021
An elegant stylized portrait of beauty with flowers emerging from her mouth: a contemporary Chloris in metamorphosing into Flora, inspired by the nymph pursued by Zephyr in Botticelli's Spring.

Her hair becomes foliage from which birds fly away.

Charline Von Heyl “The August Complex”

Painting - Acrylic on linen 2020
It is a painting rich in patterns and colours of flora and fauna encircled by the flames of a great fire that condemns them to death and destruction.

The little rabbits flee at full speed; they are no longer the “Pagan Prophet” heralding a resurrection but a disaster.