Henri Haake (b. 1989 in Lübeck) studied at Universität der Künste Berlin, and Hunter College in New York. He lives and works in Berlin.
His paintings and drawings develop through a transformative process shaped by accumulation, overpainting and dissolution. Rather than presenting a clear motif, the work focuses on transitional moments—states in which imagery loses stability and oscillates between recognition and illegibility.
The works develop through digital sketching, a process that functions as both method and metaphor: through systematic overlay, visual layers densify until they begin to overwrite one another. What comes into view is not the image as a completed entity, but a structure of fragmented narratives in which concealed information and latent histories endure.
His subjects draw on the entanglement of history, nature, and culture—exploring how the meanings of familiar forms shift and fracture over time. By combining natural textures with fragments of human construction and cultural reference, the work reflects on the changing relationship between people and their environment. Overpainting operates as both veil and revelation, producing pictorial spaces where presence and absence coexist.
Color plays a subtle yet powerful role—beyond the visible, it becomes a way of sensing, creating atmospheres that convey emotion and shape how viewers connect to the image. The paintings do not seek immediate recognition, but invite prolonged looking—allowing the viewer to lose and recognize themselves within the very act of perception.
Education
2016 Meisterschüler (Master Diploma), Universität der Künste, Berlin, Germany
2013 MFA Exchange Semester, Hunter College, New York City, USA
Solo and Duo Exhibitions
2026 Sub Rosa, Chilli, London, UK (s)
2025 tides and traces, Studio Hanniball, Berlin, Germany (d)
2024 Bad Gateway, Obelus, Berlin, Germany (s)
Floating Worlds, Galeria Nave, Lisbon, Portugal (s)
2023 OMG, Office Impart, Berlin, Germany (s)
DREAMLINER, Mikael Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark (s)
2022 Honey Lotion, Office Impart, Berlin, Germany (s)
2019 WHAT’S LEFT FROM PARADISE, Rundgänger, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (d)
Haake - Poznanska, KM28, Berlin, Germany (d)
2018 Panorama, Studio Dapontegasse, Vienna, Austria (s)
2017 Dialog der Residuen – Henri Haake & Jeewi Lee, Galerie Villa Köppe, Berlin, Germany (d)
2012 Roter Rauch, Manzoni Schäper, Berlin, Germany (s)
Group Exhibitions
2026 upcoming show curated by Domenico De Chirico, Marc Bibiloni Gallery, Madrid
upcoming show, Cabin, New York, USA
Hyperacuity, Galerie Bode, Berlin, Germany
2025 Not yet, not anymore, Galerie Diehl, Berlin, Germany
2024 My Body is a Temple, Studio Hanniball, Berlin, Germany
TOURIST, crowded, Berlin, Germany
SHUDDER MORNINGS, Cabin, Berlin, Germany
BE MY GUEST, Galeria Nave, Lisbon, Portugal
2023 Dammi i colori, Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, Portugal
2022 GOING PLACES, Nicole Gnesa, Munich, Germany
2021 AT A MOMENT IN TIME, Kunstverein Arnsberg, Germany
Group Show, Office Impart, Berlin, Germany
2019 all out "small" closing, KWADRAT, Berlin, Germany
Kommunizierende Röhren, Salon René Holm, Berlin, Germany
2018 Demi-gros, Save Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2017 Warum bin ich eigentlich Deutscher, Kunstverein Wiesen, Germany
2016 Berlin Masters, A3 Arndt Art Agency, Berlin, Germany
2015 _ndo, Museum Jorge Rando, Málaga, Spain
2012 Berlin-London, Gutshaus Erlenbach, Zurich, Switzerland
Prizes
2016 Knispel Prize for Painting and Drawing
Residencies
2026 CABIN Artist Residency, New York, USA (September-October 2026)
2026 Marc Bibiloni Artist Residency, Gilde, Belgium (July 2026)