He describes himself self-deprecatingly as the “most famous unknown artist”: Frank Uwe Laysiepen aka Ulay. With his concept of transformation, he constantly creates new identities. His preferred medium is photography — initially, in the form of the Polaroid, photography became an integral part of his earliest artistic practice. For Ulay the instant picture, which has now been replaced by the digital image, is the material in his decade-long search for a way to represent
life. To this day, his body serves as the object of his research, on which various influences leave traces and can be read, just like on a canvas. The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt presents the first-ever major overview of the works of the artist, which will be accompanied by a catologue covering photographs, performance art pieces, and works that Ulay has kept private for years and which are now being made public for the first time. (Ulay, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 13, October 2016 to 8, January 2017)
Text: Maria Rus Bojan, Noah Charney, Ann Demeester, Sophie Duplaix, Rudolf Frieling, Chrissie Iles, Dominic Johnson, Amelia Jones, Thomas McEvilley, Lyle Rexer, Beate Söntgen, Matthias Ulrich
