Heinz Mack

Heinz Mack attended the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia in Düsseldorf, from 1950 to 1953. In 1956 he graduated in philosophy at the University of Cologne. In 1957, together with Otto Piene, he founded the group ZERO, which marked the beginning of a new period – the zero point of the new beginning of experiencing art––and the break with the conventions of postwar art, which was strongly influenced by Informel and Tachisme. In addition to participating in Documenta II (1959) and Documenta III (1964), he represented the Federal Republic of Germany at the XXXV. Venice Biennale in 1970. In the same year he was invited to Osaka, Japan, as a visiting professor, and was elected a member of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, of which he remained a member until 1992. Mack has received many prestigious awards and prizes including the Art Prize of the City of Krefeld (1958), the Premio Marzotto (1963) and the Prize of the Cultural Foundation Dortmund (2012). In 2011, the Federal Republic of Germany honored the artist with the Great Cross of Merit with Star. In 2017 he was awarded the Moses Mendelssohn Medal. His works have been shown in around 360 solo and many group exhibitions and have entered 170 public collections all over the world.