Via Lewandowsky (Dresden, 1963)

Via Lewandowsky studied at the University of the Arts in Dresden from 1982 to 1987. However, he fled to the West in 1989 because he was offended by his actions critical of socialism and criticism of the art scene in the GDR and did not want to adapt.

In the 1990s, he was a fellow at the PS 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York and the Baff Center for the Arts in Canada.

Via Lewandowsky works with performance, installations, painting, drawing, objects and photography. In his multifaceted oeuvre, the artist – as he himself says – always refers to an aesthetic of failure and the everyday futility of doing.

"Okay" - a word that is understandable to everyone worldwide and is impressively staged by Via Lewandowsky in this work. But the statement is not presented in an easily digestible way, but in huge dimensions and neon-green neon lettering, so that it has to catch the viewer's eye like a billboard. The subtitle "The Archaeology of Similarity" already suggests that the artist is giving an enigmatic commentary on understanding and misunderstanding, on apparent reality and deception. Because at second glance it becomes clear that the lettering is not clearly legible and that the "okay" is only due to our associative memory. This problem is fed by the inspiration for the work, which goes back to the so-called Voynich manuscript . The script contains clearly recognizable botanical, anatomical and astronomical connections – the text, on the other hand, has not yet been deciphered. Lewandowsky's work can also not really be read with an Arabic-language background or with the knowledge of the graffiti sprayers' signs, and therefore the lettering remains a typographic eye-catcher - beautiful and enigmatic.

Via Lewandowsky's works are represented in national and international collections, including: Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn; Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt a. Main; Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent; PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York

He was a participant in documenta IX in Kassel. Many museum exhibitions and exhibition projects in Germany and abroad in renowned institutions followed, including: Ludwig Forum, Aachen; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf; Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig; Kunsthalle zu Kiel; Casa di Goethe, Rome; Q21 Museumsquartier; Vienna; PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York.

Copyright the artist. Photo UniCredit Bank GmbH