Although the meticulously staged artworks of 1984 born artist Alwin Lay are especially founded in the medium of video, photography and installation, a sculptural origin cannot be denied. Even so, Lay’s works are not a mere reflection of the relationship between photographed image and sculpture as they deliberately play with intuitive expectations that form the contexts of our everyday experiences. Similar to the methods of a magician, Lay uses these everyday situations as a foundation for the manipulation of their physical, temporal and aesthetic laws. The result is an array of strange or absurd, humoristic interludes. Lay intentionally creates seemingly surreal moments and sequences, in which antecedents and anticipated outcomes are interrupted by narrative vacancies. At the same time Alwin Lay’s simulations create a space of contemporarneity in which the beholder can only linger and experience the present moment.
Alwin Lay
*1984 in Lugosch (Romania)
lives and works in Cologne, Germany
Exhibitions (selections)
2019
„Next Generations“ – Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen, Leverkusen (DE)
2018
Museumslandschaft Wilhelm Busch, Wiedensahl (DE)
Shotspotter 2 – Blurry Boundaries, Kosemtiksalon Babettes, Berlin (DE)
Freinds, Munich (DE)
Klassentreffen, MUMOK Vienna, Vienna (A)
Schichtwechsel. Kunst und Kohle, Museum Ostwall, Dortmund (DE)
Gute Aussichten-Deluxe, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg (DE)
2017
Latest Releases, Unttld Contemporary, Vienna (A) (solo)
Ausstellung des Stipendiums Villa Aurora, Fuhrwerkswaage, Cologne (DE) (solo)
Gallery Thomas Erben, New York (USA)
Videonale 16, Kunstmuseum Bonn (DE)
Rumors of Glory, Basis, Frankfurt (DE)
2016
Der entscheidende Augenblick musste verschoben werde, Kunstverein Leipzig (DE) (solo)
Never Leave Me, On Stellar Rays, New York (USA)
What birds can see, Document, Chicago (USA)
Boom in Frame, Rain on Lens, Galerie Natalia Hug, Cologne (DE)
2015
COMING SOON, NAK- Neuer Aachener Kunstverein (DE) (solo)
Prospecition#5, Galerie Natalia Hug, Cologne (DE) (solo)
Junger Westen, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen (DE)
Timisora Art Encounter, Timisora (ROM)
and in the meantime a latte macchiato, Kunsthalle Münster (DE)
Expanding Photography, Ausstellungshalle Haverkamp, Münster (DE)
Artist against Aids, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn (DE)
Irony, EMAF, Kunsthalle Osnarbrück (DE)
2014
COMING SOON, SSZ-SUED, Cologne (DE) (solo)
The Wavering Stage (mit Lorelinde Verhees), Q18, Cologne (DE) (solo)
Max Ernst Museum, Brühl (DE) (solo)
CORAL BRUSH NODE, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland Oregon (USA)
Gute Aussichten - Junge Deutsche Fotografie, Haus der Photographie, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (DE)
Gute Aussichten - Junge Deutsche Fotografie, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich (DE)
Ausstellungen | News


Alwin Lay @ Kunsthalle Düsseldorf

Alwin Lay @ Museum für Photographie Braunschweig – CANCELLED


Alwin Lay @ Vienna Art Book Fair
Alwin Lay @ Mier Gallery, Los Angeles

Groupshow Alwin Lay @ Kunstgruppe presented in the Salon Schmitz, Cologne

unttld contemporary & Megamelange @ Groupshow Exit II (Prolog), Cologne

Alwin Lay @ “Next Generations” – Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen

Alwin Lay @ Museumslandschaft Wilhelm Busch, Wiedensahl

Alwin Lay | Groupshow @ Kosmetiksalon Babett, Berlin


Alwin Lay @ Museum Ostwall, Dortmund

Alwin Lay @ MUMOK Vienna – Class Reunion

Alwin Lay | Groupshow @ Deichtorhallen Hamburg