The artist quickly captured international attention and lined up ex hi- bitions, biennials, and public commissions. Since then, the collaboration between Jeppe Hein and his gallery manager Johann König has continued to flourish too. For many years, they shared a one-storey building in the heart of Berlin where Hein s studio is still located. Johann König has moved with his KÖNIG GALERIE to a former church nearby.

Today, Jeppe Hein s studio is home to a team of twenty, including a chef in charge of preparing shared meals. This permanent position reflects the importance that the forty-seven-year-old now attaches to moments of sharing and rest. His desire to connect with others and help them connect with themselves follows a decisive biographical episode. In 2009, at the age of 35, the artist experienced a severe burnout. To get back up and rediscover his desire to create, he started practicing yoga and meditation. It was a revelation that led him to integrate these teachings into his artistic approach. Already present in some of his pieces, such as the neon object Enlightenment (2002), his spiritual side , as he describes it, became more apparent and assured.

Through his work, Jeppe tells us what we all might like to hear from time to time: YOU ARE AMAZING JUST THE WAY YOU ARE; TO ME YOU ARE PERFECT (2015). He wanted to share the force of breathing and initiated his ongoing project Breathe with Me, first presented at the United Nations Headquarters and in Central Park, New York, in 2019. This participatory work invites the public to paint their own breath on a canvas and thus visualise the connection between all living beings. Jeppe Hein s work aims to convey empathy and encourage everyone to reconnect with themselves and others. RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, as the title of his Carte Blanche for Maison Ruinart indicates.