“The Big Blue”
In Luc Besson’s classic film, he played the young freediver Enzo; today he is a renowned artist.
In May, Gregory Forstner is coming to Germany as artist-in-residence at the Kunsthotel Engelwirt – and the film will be screened in the hotel’s own cinema
Hamburg/Berching, 26 March 2026 – It is not easy to look away from Forstner’s paintings. Anthropomorphic dogs, fragile humans or poker-playing pandas stare back at you with such intensity that it feels as though they have long since seen right through the viewer. Forstner’s paintings appear raw and tender, familiar and unsettling at the same time. Shaped by the ambivalence of his grandfathers during the Nazi era – one in the resistance, the other a collaborator – he processes his family history and his own half-French, half-Austrian roots. Born in Cameroon in 1975, Forstner discovered art at an early age as a child actor. In Luc Besson’s classic 1988 film *The Big Blue*, he played the young ‘Enzo’. As a painter, he developed his own style after spending time in Vienna, Nice and Brooklyn. Gregory Forstner now lives and works in Marseille; his works are held in major museums and collections in Paris, New York and Munich.
Now, not only can you admire his artistic work at Galerie Zink (Waldkirchen) and the Hotel Engelwirt (Berching), but you can also meet the artist in person during his two-week residency at the Engelwirt from 8 to 20 May 2026. A public studio visit and artist talk will take place on 16 May at 6 pm. And on 17 May, following a brunch and talk, hotel guests can immerse themselves in the classic film ‘In the Depths’. It will be screened in the hotel’s own cinema.
