Austin Lee Crafts Whimsical New Artworks for "Aah" Exhibition

New York-based artist Austin Lee never fails to delight and amuse onlookers with his vivid paintings and sculptures that feature child-like subjects. Lee is currently displaying new works as part of a new solo exhibition called “Aah” at Peres Projects in Berlin, Germany as part of the annual Gallery Weekend festival. The pieces on show blur the lines between real and imaginary as well as digital and physical.

The artist expands upon his boundary-pushing technique of creating paintings. His works often begin as iPad sketches with the artist even using a 3D printer to develop some of his sculptures. “As Lee assumes this role of transmutator, the paintings and sculptures that comprise this exhibition are concerned with our ways of seeing and being in the world which now also includes the digital lived experience. Lee’s practice plays with how a work can be limited and defined by the tools and technologies that compose it, reflecting on our own experiences of mediation and how these same tools shape and construct our subjectivities,” said Peres Projects in a statement.

Across his dynamic compositions, Lee injects a cast of otherworldly creatures set against gradient backdrops. Working from small- to large-scale, he paints every inch of his canvases with bright neon colors using acrylic and vinyl paint. The latter material gives off a matte finish which makes certain elements of Lee’s subject appear to be three dimensional albeit on a flat surface.

“Playful and childlike, the characters that dominate Lee’s paintings and sculpture operate through a visual language of simple lines, and direct emotion. Speaking across a register familiar to us from childhood, these works locate and acknowledge the formative power of images,” said the gallery.

Check out the installation views for “Aah” above and then head to Peres Projects’ website for more information. The exhibition is on view until October 9.

For more whimsical pieces, check out Liz Markus’ T-Rex paintings at Unit London’s new concept art gallery.

Peres Projects
Karl-Marx-Allee 82
Berlin 10243
Germany