artists

henning wagenbreth

4 References

Henning Wagenbreth was born in Eberswalde in 1962. From 1982 to 1987 he studied graphic design at the Kunsthochschule in East Berlin where he received a solid technical education. After the fall of the Berlin Wall he became part of the collective “PGH Glühende Zukunft” (cooperative of the radiant future artisanal production). Henning Wagenbreth’s illustrations, considered among the most interesting and original of any European artist, are style to be followed. The bright colors, often fluorescent, precise lines and angles make drawings with a strong visual impact. His well curated publications have made him one of the protagonists of the comic avant-guarde in Germany. Much like Atak, Anke Feuchtenberger, Holger Fickelscherer and many others, it was by getting in contact with “RAW,” Art Spiegelman’s magazine, that he moved closer to comics. 

His strength is in his ability to blend the expressionism of the underground with Eastern European illustration, wood blocks of Frans Maseree and digital graphics. Wagenbreth is able to speak of contemporary society with a critical eye and to elaborate on such ideas with extreme creativity. Like in the book Cry For Help, in which the phenomenon of digital criminality and a mail spam illustrate one of the greatest clichés of the western mind. Among his works are, Der Polarforscher, an illustrated collection of stories by T. C. Boyle, Das Geheimnis der Insel St. Helena, fantasy stories about the death of Napoleon, and Mond und Morgenstern, named “Most Beautiful Book in the World”.

photo crédit : d.r. 

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