Valentin Hennig (b. 1986, Herrenberg) is a Berlin-based painter, filmmaker, and art educator.
Between 2007-2013 Valentin Hennig studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe with Silvia Bächli and Corinne Wasmuht. Following this, he completed the postgraduate program “Intermedia Design” in 2014 under the mentorship of Professors Wolfgang Mayer and Christina Gomez-Barrio (Discoteca Flaming Star) at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart and was awarded the title of “Master Student of the Weißenhof Program” in 2016.
His practice moves between painting and film. In his paintings, he explores the relationship between chance and intention through signs, traces, and pictorial space; his films and video works employ surreal montage, atmospheric narration, and elements of the absurd. He conceives of art as a magical act — a means of connecting inner and outer realities and making them visible.
His paintings and films have been presented at Kunsthalle Vogelmann, Galerie Burster, Villa Merkel, at the 55th Internationale Hofer Filmtage, on ARTE, and at the 20th International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart. He received the Max Ernst Scholarship from the City of Brühl as well as a scholarship from the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg.
Awards, Scholarships, and Recognitions
- 2022 1.Kunstpreis des Freundes- und Förderkreises der Pforzheim Galerie
- 2022 Prädikatsvergabe “Wertvoll” der Deutschen Filmbewertung (FBW) für THE STRAW THAT BROKE
- 2021 Nominierung “Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino”, 55. Internationale Hofer Filmtage
- 2016 Max Ernst Stipendium der Stadt Brühl
- 2016 Stipendium der Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg
- 2013 Landesgraduiertenstipendium Baden-Württemberg
- 2011 Preis der Kunstakademie Karlsruhe
Exhibitions and Screenings (Selection)
- 2025 Surrealismus – Welten im Dialog, Kunsthalle Vogelmann, Screening, Heilbronn
- 2024 Kulturnacht Tübingen, Einzelausstellung
- 2023 Open School, Gruppenausstellung, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart
- 2023 Solid Transitions, Gruppenausstellung, Stuttgart
- 2023 Württembergischer Kunstverein, Screening, Stuttgart
- 2023 Kunstverein Freiburg, Screening im Kommunalen Kino
- 2023 Kommunales Kino Pforzheim, Screening
- 2023 Kunstverein Pforzheim, Trüffelsuche, Gruppenausstellung
- 2022 Kunstfenster, Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg, Gruppenausstellung, div. Orte
- 2022 Toujours Kultur, Kinemathek Karlsruhe
- 2021 “55.Internationale Hofer Filmtage” – Weltpremiere von THE STRAW THAT BROKE
- 2020 “PLUGIN – Ausstellung des Künstlerbundes”, Gruppenausstellung, Berlin
- 2020 Stay at Home, Museum Villa Rot, Online-Ausstellung
- 2017 “Inside The Straw that Broke”, Heidelberger Kunstverein
- 2016 “Practice, Process, Progress”, Gruppenausstellung, Villa Merkel, Esslingen
- 2016 “Valentin Hennig – Videokunst”, Einzelausstellung, Max Ernst Museum, Brühl
- 2015 “ARTE Videonight Premiere”, Screening, La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
- 2015 “Five Membranes”, Einzelausstellung, Galerie Burster, Berlin
- 2013 “20. Internationales Trickfilmfestival Stuttgart”, Screening
- 2013 “Comments” – Kunsthaus L6, Gruppenausstellung, Freiburg
- 2012 “Deltabeben. Regionale”, Gruppenausstellung, Mannheimer Kunstverein
- 2011 “Von Tieren, Elektronen und anderen Lügen”, Gruppenausstellung, Haus für Elektronische Künste, Basel