AKUT Urban Contemporary Artist & Photographer About

PAST

Painting for more than 3 decades

Falk Lehmann better known as AKUT was born in 1977 in Schmalkalden, Thuringia. In the early 90s he was one of the first to embellish his city – at that time still untypical in the graffiti scene – with figural works in a photorealistic style.

As an artist trained by the Bauhaus University in Weimar in the fields of visual communication and graphic design, his work also includes impressive photo series that address numerous social issues. Whether homeless in Hawaii, child labor in Nepal, studies of abandoned prefabricated buildings or refugee shelters as the new home of thousands of people from the Middle East, AKUT documents life on his numerous trips around the world.

In the early 2000s, he became known around the world as a co-founder of the legendary graffiti collective Ma’Claim. The use of electronic aids as an integral part of the design phase and the mixture of graphic elements with photorealism within the work set new standards in the scene.

As part of the street art duo HERAKUT, he was also internationally successful with artist colleague Jasmin Siddiqui aka HERA from 2004 on. Not only did the two Alias merge within the formation, but also their artistic styles. HERA, with fleeting lines and rough structures, and AKUT, with photorealistic precision work, impressed with gigantic murals, intimate room installations, canvases and sculptures in galleries, at trade fairs and in museums. Together with humanitarian aid organizations, they worked on art programs for children and disadvantaged youth around the world.

PRESENT

Constant change for development

In his solo work, AKUT mainly focuses on the modeling of individuals and continues to deal with socially relevant issues. He is constantly researching the interaction of different techniques, materials, tools and disciplines. His artworks in public space fit into the environment as a positive influence and thus show a perspective for the art direction Muralism/Streetart.

In 2020, AKUT drew attention to himself by creating a short film that expressed the solidarity of 37 artists in isolation during the Corona crisis. The film leads the viewer through the artists’ studios in a stop-motion style and thus gives an intimate insight into their work. What was particularly important was the fact that the artists themselves contributed the video material under supervision, creating a large collaboration with participants from, among others, Sri Lanka, USA, Brazil, Japan, UK and many European cities.

Most recently AKUT worked mainly in the studio and developed numerous works for group exhibitions in London, Paris and Los Angeles. In the course of this the portrait, as one of the most famous and oldest subjects in art, has also remained as the most interesting one for AKUT. With the solo exhibition “INDIVIDUAL LIMINALITY” he emphasized the portrait as the magnum opus and moves it to the center of his creative work. Expressive yet delicate photorealism met subtile graffiti roots, creating today’s individuals dealing with their existence in liminality.

FUTURE

Since December 2021 the INSIGHT photo series is exhibited for the first time after AKUT has been working on the project for almost a decade now. Until March 27th 2022 the 80 portraits of the ongoing series can be seen in the old commissary curated by Metropolink in Heidelberg, Germany. The exhibition also shows the first collaboration mural as well as collaboration canvases taking the idea of INSIGHT to a new level.

The realization of more collaborations in any kind with other artists as well as a photo book for the series are in the planning stage for 2022.