André Heller

The Gate, 1988

Artwork Brief Description

André Heller’s *The Gate* is an intricate and symbolic entrance to his garden, inspired by Ghiberti’s *Gates of Paradise*. The gate represents duality—night and day—through celestial and earthly motifs, inviting visitors to embrace curiosity and childlike wonder. A serpent encircling the gate references the Garden of Eden, reinforcing themes of transformation and temptation. More than a boundary, *The Gate* is a portal into Heller’s dream world, where preconceptions are left behind. Heller’s career spans music, film, literature, and immersive art, including his influential interactive art park *Luna Luna*.

The Gate, 1988

Number on Map

Back to Art

André Heller was born in Vienna in 1947. He’s among the world’s most influential and successful multi-media artists.

His achievements encompass garden artwork, chambers of wonder, prose publications and processions including a revival of circus and vaudeville, selling millions of records as a chansonnier of his own songs, amazing flying and swimming sculptures, the avant-garde amusement park Luna Luna, films, fire spectacles, and labyrinths as well as stage plays and shows that have entertained audiences from Broadway to the Vienna Burgtheater, from India to China, and from South America to Africa.

André Heller lives in Vienna, Marrakesh, and on the road.

André Heller (Austrian b. 1947) The Gate, 1988

At the entrance to his majestic garden André Heller designed a beautiful set of gates. Just like Ghiberti’s iconic Gates of Paradise, at the San Giovanni Baptistery in Florence, these gates have been carefully constructed to offer the viewer a glimpse of what awaits them on the other side.

On the left gate, a crescent moon rests in peaceful slumber, its human-like features with two eyes and a mouth with an extended tongue in a gesture of play. Underneath there are stylised stars, bats, cats, and mice, all nocturnal creatures laid out like counters in a board game. Above the moon, we see the constellation of Aries, which is Heller’s zodiac sign and represents the singular spirit. On the right-hand gate, we see an abstracted sun with a labyrinth in its centre. Underneath, we find clovers, butterflies, fish, and lizards, all creatures and plants that thrive in sunlight. This formation of opposing icons being lined up and ready to play serves to prepare the viewer to ignite their own inner child and to enjoy what awaits them.

Encircling the gate, a serpent crawls up towards the top, reminding us of one of the most significant gardens in Western culture, the Garden of Eden. The serpent serves as a symbol of temptation and transformation and reinforces the gate’s role as a threshold where ideas exploring allegory, astrology, and biology converge. In this way, the gate is not just a physical barrier from the road to the garden, but it becomes a metaphorical one, too. Upon crossing the threshold, we step from the Gardone Riviera and into Heller’s dream world, where all preconceived beliefs and perceptions must be shed.

Whilst he may not be known to many today, André Heller was a major pop star in Austria in the 1970s. Not only did he produce over a dozen top albums, but he also wrote several books and created avant-garde films. His ever-growing curiosity led him to explore other artistic mediums, leading him to create variety shows, parades, art and, of course, poetic gardens.

His first and most well-known of such gardens was Luna Luna, created in 1985-1987 in Hamburg, Germany. He asked his friends and fellow artists to create artworks that people could not only look at but also play on. Keith Haring designed a bright Carousel, Sonia Delaunay made a beautiful archway, and David Hockney created a mesmerising enchanted tree. It was a Kaleidoscope of ideas and creations. Rather than hanging art on a wall to be looked at, Luna Luna paved the way for a new way of experiencing art, one that involved an active and present participant.

Heller is not only an art creator, but due to his relationship with so many artists, he is a very significant collector, too. He once described his relationship with art, saying it should be “Just a private fairy tale.” This quote perfectly summarises Heller’s notion of play as art and vice versa. As we wander through the Gardone Garden, we are reminded to enjoy this private fairy tale and not take things too seriously.