Synthetic resin paint on canvas, 155 x 190 cm
Hercules (in Greek: Heracles) is a hero of Greek mythology who was famous for his strength and fighting power. Many legends surround him, as his myth has been passed on and adapted over thousands of years into modern times. "Discovered" by the Phoenicians around 900 BC at the latest, the "Pillars of Hercules" marked the end of the world known in ancient times. That is the western exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean, marked by the Rock of Gibraltar and the mountain Djebel Musa in Morocco. In his painting, Hödicke created an ironic monument to the Pillars of Hercules.

Karl Horst Hödicke (*1938 in Nuremberg, Germany) is considered a pioneer of New Figuration and Neo-Expressionism and had a decisive influence on the Neue Wilde. In 1957, he moved with his family from Vienna to Berlin and began studying there, first architecture, then painting at the Hochschule der Künste. While still a student, he joined the artists' group "Vision" in 1961, and in 1964 he founded the Galerie Großgörschen 35, together with other young painters, including the now renowned artists Markus Lüpertz and Bernd Koberling. This gallery was an experiment, one of the first self-help galleries ever and served as a model for further projects of this kind. The young painters wanted to set an example against the rigid established art business.

Hödicke became one of the most famous artists in Germany and taught his own painting class at the Berlin Hochschule der Künste between 1974 and 2005. There he influenced, among others, Helmut Middendorf and Salomé, who were to become outstanding representatives of the Neue Wilde and who are also displayed at the academy. Hödicke looks back on a very successful life as an artist and lives and works in Berlin, today. His focus is on painting, drawings, sculptures, objects, films, neo-expressionism, process art, plastic experiments and experimental films.