Born in 1948 near Bremen in Germany, Heinz Emigholz trained first as a draftsman before studying philosophy and literature in Hamburg. He began filmmaking in 1968 and has worked since 1973 as a filmmaker, artist, writer and producer in Germany and the USA. In 1974 he started his encyclopaedic drawing series The Basis of Make-Up . He looks back on numerous exhibitions, retrospectives, lectures and publications. In 1984 he started his film series Photography and beyond. He has held a professorship in Experimental Filmmaking at the Universität der Künste Berlin since 1993, and co-founded the Institute for Time-based Media and the program Art and Media, there. In 2003 Filmgalerie 451 started an edition of all his films on DVD. Publications a.o.: Krieg der Augen, Kreuz der Sinne (War of Eyes, Cross of Senses), Seit Freud gesagt hat, der Künstler heile seine Neurose selbst, heilen die Künstler ihre Neurosen selbst (Since Freud Said That the Artist Heals His Neuroses Himself, Artists Have Been Healing Their Neuroses Themselves), Normalsatz – Siebzehn Filme (Ordinary Sentence – Seventeen Films) and Das schwarze Schamquadrat (The Black Sqare of Shame) (all four books at Verlag Martin Schmitz); Die Basis des Make-Up (I) and (II), Der Begnadete Meier (Grace Jones), Kleine Enzyklopädie der Photographie (Little Encyclopaedia of Photography) and Die Basis des Make-Up (III) (in Die Republik No. 68-71, 76-78, 89-91, 94-97 and 123-125); Sense of Architecture with more than 600 photographs.

1972/73. Schenec-Tady I (16 mm, 27 min, silent)
1973. Schenec-Tady II (16 mm, 18 min, silent)
1973/74. Arrowplane (16 mm, 24 min, silent)
1974. Tide (16 mm, 33 min, silent)
1972/75. Schenec-Tady III (16 mm, 20 min, silent)
1975/76. Hotel (16 mm, 27 min)
1976/77. Demon – The Translation of Stéphane Mallarmé's „Le Démon de l’Analogie“ (16 mm, 30 min)
1978/81. Normalsatz – Ordinary Sentence (Feature film, 16 mm, 105 min)
1974/83. The Basis of Make-Up I (Photography and beyond – Teil 1). (35 mm, 20 min)
1979/85. The Basis of Make-Up (Feature film, 16 mm, 84 min)
1974/87. Die Wiese der Sachen – The Meadow of Things (Feature film, 16 mm, 88 min)
1986/91. Der Zynische Körper – The Holy Bunch (Feature film, 35 mm, 89 min)
1993/1999. Sullivan's Banks (Photography and beyond – Part 2) (35 mm, 38 min)
1995/1999. Maillart's Bridges (Photography and beyond – Teil 3) (35 mm, 24 min)
1983/2000. The Basis of Make-Up II (Photography and beyond – Part 4) (35 mm, 48 min)
1988/2001. Miscellanea I (Photography and beyond – Part 5) (35 mm, 20 min)
1988/2001. Miscellanea II (Photography and beyond – Part 6) (35 mm, 19 min)
2002/03. Goff in the Desert (Photography and beyond – Part 7) (35 mm, 110 min)
1996/2004. The Basis of Make-Up III (Photography and beyond - Part 9) (35 mm, 26 min)
1997/2004. Miscellanea III (Photography and beyond – Part 10) (35 mm, 22 min)
2002/05. D'Annunzio's Cave (Photography und beyond – Part 8) (DigiBeta, 52 min)
2005. Robert Maillart and The Art of Structural Engineering (DV, two interview films, together 89 min)
2005/06. 57 short films for the exhibition project Sense of Architecture (HDCAM, 330 min)
2006/07. Schindler's Houses (Photography and beyond – Part 12) (35 mm, 99 min)
2007. The Whitman Project (Co-Direction Lior Shamriz) (DV, 52 min)
2006/08. Loos ornamental (Photography and beyond – Part 13) (35 mm, 72 min)
2008. Ornament and Crime by Adolf Loos (Co-Direction Benjamin Krieg) (DV, 30 min)
2005/09. Sense of Architecture (Photography and beyond – Part 11) (HDCAM, 138 min)
2006/09. Two Projects by Frederick Kiesler (Photography and beyond – Part 14) (HDCAM, 16 min)
2010. A Museum in Essen (Miscellanea IV) Photography and beyond – Part 15 (HDCAM, 21 min)
1987/2010. El Greco in Toledo (Miscellanea V) Photography and beyond – Part 16 (HDCAM, 29 min)
1986/2010. Leonardo's Tears (Miscellanea VI) Photography and beyond – Part 17 (DV, 29 min)
1987/2010. On Board USS Ticonderoga (Miscellanea VII) Photography and beyond - Part 18 (DV, 12 min)

Three projests in pre-production: Decampment of Modernism, The Kiesler Projection and Tale of Five Cities
Three works in progress: The Basis of Make-Up IV, The Black Square of Shame and The White Square of Shame
Four feature film projects in planning: Fluß ohne Ufer (No Safe Haven), Second Nature, Schwarzer Hafen (Black Harbour) und The Last Secrets of the Republic

Die Basis des Make-Up (The Basis of Make-Up). In: Boa Vista No. 2, Hamburg, 1975
Indian Summer. In: Boa Vista No. 3, Hamburg, 1976
A Portfolio. In: The Paris Review No. 65, New York, 1976
The Results Are In. In: No Rose No. 2, New York, 1976
Normalsatz (Ordinary Sentence). In: Henry No. 5, Hamburg, 1977
Die Chinesische Landschaft (The Chinese Landscape). In: Henry No. 6, Hamburg, 1978
Webster’s Ideallandscape. In: No Rose No. 4, New York, 1978
Three Fairy Tales. In: Paranoids Anonymous Newsletter, New York, 1978
The Case, the Glass, the Said. In: Amateur No. 2, New York, 1979
Zwei Schiffe im Hafen (Two Ships in a Harbour). In: Nancy No. 7, Hamburg, 1979
Art Spiegelman: Breakdowns. Gesammelte Comic Strips. Basel, Frankfurt/M.: Stroemfeld, Roter Stern 1980 (Translation)
One Panel from the The Basis of Make-Up. In: Raw No. 1, New York, 1980
Ordinary Sentenc. In: Raw No. 3, New York, 1981
From Love to Disney. In: Ideolects No. 9, New York, 1981
Die Basis des Make-Up (I). In: Die Republik No. 68-71, 1984
Der Begnadete Meier( Grace Jones). In: Die Republik No. 76-78, 1986
Der Begnadete Meier (Grace Jones). Radio play, Sender Freies Berlin, 1988
Die Basis des Make-Up. Catalogue, XPO Galerie, Hamburg, Zwinger Galerie, Berlin, 1989
Krieg der Augen, Kreuz der Sinne (War of Eyes, Cross of Senses). Book, Kassel: Schmitz 1991
Kleine Enzyklopädie der Photographie (Little Encyclopaedia of Photography). In: Die Republik No. 89-91, 1991
Silke Grossmann: Photographien. Mit Texten von Frieda Grafe. (Photographs. With Texts by Frieda Grafe). Edited by Heinz Emigholz. Stuttgart: Cantz 1992
Zwölf Filme (Twelve Videos), Filmgalerie 451, Stuttgart 1992
Seit Freud gesagt hat, der Künstler heile seine Neurose selbst, heilen die Künstler ihre Neurosen selbst (Since Freud Said That the Artist Heals His Neuroses Himself, Artists Have Been Healing Their Neuroses Themselves). Book, Kassel: Schmitz 1993
Die Basis des Make-Up (II). In: Die Republik, 94-97/1997
Das schwarze Schamquadrat (The Black Square of Shame). Book, Berlin: Schmitz 2002
Fotografía y más allá (Photography and beyond). Book, Buenos Aires: Editorial Altamira 2004
Die Basis des Make-Up. 604 drawings. Book, Pym Films, 2007
Die Basis des Make-Up (III). In: Die Republik No. 68-71, 2008
Sense of Architecture. Book, Graz: Artimage, 2008
Sentimental Bombast. Mailbook, Cologne: Flypaper #5, 2010
Schwarze Blöcke (Black Blocks). Booklet, Flaach (CH): SchwarzHandPresse, 2010

Work in progress: Das weiße Schamquadrat ( The White Square of Shame)
Since 2005 ongoing edition of all films by Heinz Emigholz on DVD, Filmgalerie 451 , Berlin

• 1974. Projekt '74, Cologne
• 1977. documenta 6, Kassel
• 1977/78. Film As Film, Kunstverein Cologne, Hayward Gallery, London
• 1982. Normalsatz (Ordinary Sentence), Buch Handlung Welt, Hamburg
• 1986. Ich hätte auch gern einen Körper gehabt (I would have liked to have a body, too), Galerie Eisenbahnstraße, Berlin
• 1988. Der Untergang der Bismarck (The Sinking of the Bismarck), Zwinger Galerie, Berlin
• 1988/89. BiNationale – German Art of the Late '80s, Düsseldorf / Boston / Minneapolis / Houston
• 1989. Seit ich blond bin, färbe ich mir die Haare (Since I am blonde, I dye my hair), Zwinger Galerie, Berlin, und XPO Galerie, Hamburg
• 1991. Krieg der Augen, Kreuz der Sinne – Skizze (War of Eyes, Cross of Senses – Sketch), Galerie Martin Schmitz, Kassel
• 1991. Plakate (Posters), Zwinger Galerie, Berlin
• 1991. Die Erschöpfung – Enzyklopädie (The Exhaustion – Encyclopaedia), Kunsthalle Bremerhaven
• 1992. Zwei Essays – Filmphotographie/Photographie (Two Essays – Cinematography/Photography), Galerie Fischinger, Stuttgart
• 1992. Photographie und jenseits, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
• 1993. Seit Freud gesagt hat, der Künstler heile seine Neurosen selbst, heilen die Künstler ihre Neurosen selbst (Since Freud Said That The Artist Heals His Neuroses Himself, Artists Have Been Healing Their Neuroses Themselves: Drawings, Texts, Films. Saarländisches Künstlerhaus, Saarbrücken
• 1994. Drawings and Posters, Goethe Institut, Madrid
• 1994. Die Basis des Make-Up (1974-1994), Hamburger Kunsthalle
• 1994. Depot, Galerie Martin Schmitz, Kassel
• 1997. In medias res – Media Art from Berlin in Istanbul. Dolmabahce Palast, Istanbul
• 1998. Die Basis des Make-Up (1974-98), Zwinger Galerie, Berlin
• 1999. das xx. jahrhundert – ein jahrhundert kunst in deutschland. Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin
• 2000. Die Basis des Make-Up (1974-2000), Galerie argos, Brüssel
• 2001. Die Basis des Make-Up (1974-2001), Kunstverein München
• 2001. Die Basis des Make-Up, Galerie Hubert Bächler, Zurich
• 2006. Research for Basis des Make-Up, Zwinger Galerie, Berlin
• 2004. Heinz Emigholz / Michael Snow, Goethe Institut, Toronto
• 2007. Die Basis des Make-Up (1974-2007), Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin
• 2008. Neue Schwarze Blöcke (New Black Blocks), Galerie Hubert Bächler, Zurich
• 2008. Sense of Architecture, Architekturbiennale, Venice
• 2010. Die gezeichnete Welt (The Drawn World), Kunstverein Ingolstadt
• 2010/11. Je mehr ich zeichne (The More I Draw) – Zeichnung als Weltentwurf, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen
• 2010. The Formative Years – Extended Version, Extra City, Antwerpen