The Fish Can't Hear You, 2020

Charline von Heyl approaches printmaking with curiosity and fervor, creating experimental compositions that play with the rhythms of color and shape.

von Heyl’s natural affinity for the unexpected and joy in discovery pushes the boundary of conventional print medium as seen in her first editions with ULAE.

The Fish Can’t Hear You is an intaglio with relief that combines traditional etching techniques with the artist’s eye for layering shapes. Abstract forms dissolve into recognizable graphical elements with bold, painterly marks placed on the surface. The fish silhouette was created by one printing with an inked mask laid on an etching plate.

Charline von Heyl (German, b. 1960) studied at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and participated in the Cologne art scene in the 1980s before moving to New York in 1995. She is a painter whose practice encompasses drawing, printmaking and collage. Von Heyl’s work takes inspiration from a vast and surprising array of sources – including literature, pop culture, metaphysics, and person history. She has been the subject several survey museum exhibitions, most recently held at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC; The Museum Dhont Dhaenens, Deurle; and the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg. Past survey exhibitions include, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Tate Liverpool, Kunsthalle Nuremburg, Bonner Kunstverein; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; . Her work can be found in collections around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Tate, London; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; and the Kunstmuseum Bonn. Charline von Heyl lives and works in New York and Marfa, Texas.