Helena Huneke

Helena Huneke (1967–2012) was a German artist and designer whose practice deftly moved between industrial design, installation, performance, and collaborative projects. Born in Münster and educated at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, Huneke’s approach integrated theoretical and spatial inquiries with a deep engagement in contemporary art and design culture. She earned her diploma in industrial design in 1995, with a focus on interior architecture, furniture design, and theory.

Early in her career, Huneke participated in formative workshops with William Firebrace and Cerith Wyn Evans in Vienna and collaborated with The Poor Boys Enterprise on 97 Stühle, a project that spanned Vienna and New York. Her work was often shaped by collective practice and experimentation, including her role as a core member of the influential artists’ group Akademie Isotrop (1996–2000), with whom she exhibited across Germany and internationally in institutions such as Galerie Buchholz (Cologne), Cubitt (London), and Kunstverein Graz.

Huneke’s solo and collaborative exhibitions were wide-ranging. Key solo presentations include Cloud Nine at the Fullerton Art Museum (USA, 1999), 20ties + 80ties = 90ties at Montgomery, Berlin (2008), and a posthumous survey at Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg (2015). She also took part in group shows and projects at institutions such as Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin), MAK Center for Art and Architecture (Los Angeles), Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna), and the Art Frankfurt fair. Her interdisciplinary work frequently explored themes of transformation, domesticity, and the performative object, often blurring the line between art, design, and lived experience—exemplified by her operation of a “Wohnungsrestaurant” (home-restaurant) in Hamburg in 2002.

In addition to her studio practice, Huneke was active as a curator (Hallo der Wasserfall, 1996), educator (assistant to Prof. Ann Wolff), and artist-in-residence at the MAK Schindler House in Los Angeles. She relocated to Berlin in 2007, where she continued her artistic work until her untimely death in 2012.
This exhibition marks her first solo presentation since her passing and offers a comprehensive view of her multifaceted practice. In addition to key works spanning her career, the exhibition features an expanded selection of archival materials—sketches, texts, photographs, and documentation—that provide insight into her process and thinking. To further evoke the spirit of exchange that characterized her life and work, the presentation also includes selected pieces by artists with whom Huneke shared close personal or artistic affinities. These works act as living echoes of her practice, creating a space of dialogue and resonance across time. To honor Helena Huneke’s legacy and bring renewed vitality to her work, this exhibition also includes selected pieces by contemporaries and kindred spirits—artists with whom she shared a dialogue, aesthetic affinities, or personal connections. These accompanying works serve not only to contextualize Huneke’s multifaceted practice but also to evoke the collaborative spirit and networked nature of her artistic life. Together, they offer a living conversation across time and medium, celebrating the resonances that continue to emerge from her work today.