Deutschland 1933 by Reiner Heidorn

Overpainting History

Reiner Heidorn has collected old school maps and paints them over, including maps from the Nazi regime. In doing so, he aims to keep historical memory alive and take a stand against denial.

“The maps have been radically painted over, so that the original content is no longer visible. Only the titles remain as a silent reminder of a dark era. Through botanical motifs, I create a contrast between life, growth, and memory: Nature grows beyond the past, yet traces of history remain visible in the choice of motifs, the structure of the image, and the colors—a warning against forgetting, trivialization, and denial of history. The overpainting transforms the maps into new pictorial spaces in which criticism, memory, and responsibility become visible.”

In this, Reiner Heidorn also refers, among other things, to Gustav Metzger’s metal-wrapped images “Hitler-youth, eingeschweißst 1997”

Expansion Hitlers

Weltreich Rom

Frühes Christentum

Europa 1945

About the artist:

Reiner Heidorn is a German painter with a focus on freshwater microorganisms, plants, and chlorophyll. Using his own technique, he translates the pointillism of microscope photographs into abstract expressionism.

He also collects natural materials and uses leaves, twigs, and blossoms as print templates for his abstract, botanical pictorial spaces.