Clifford Chance

Celebrating Community

Clifford Chance Germany has teamed up with KUNSTLABOR 2 for this year's Arcus Pride Art Exhibition in Munich.

The Arcus Pride Art initiative aims to challenge perceptions and provoke thought and conversation through artworks exploring themes such as relationships, sexuality, gender identity and expression, and the human body.

About the exhibition

The last two years have reminded us of how important community is. Developments on LGBT*IQ issues have moved in different directions around the world. At the same time, the global pandemic has denied us many opportunities to spend time together and to experience community, which is an essential part of achieving equality. The year 2022 offers an opportunity to come together and harness the power of inclusion – to capitalise on the lessons of the past two years and move forward together to support our LGBT*IQ communities and allies.

Anna Thwaites, Partner and Arcus Lead at Clifford Chance in Germany says...

"Communities don't just happen – we have to actively build and nurture them. Our communities play an important role in creating physical and figurative spaces where we can be ourselves. In 2022, we invite our Arcus and Arcus Ally members, community, and friends to reflect on the importance of community and solidarity. Arcus Pride Art 2022 is meant to remind us of who we are, what inspires us, and celebrate what makes our community so unique.

This is also reflected in the artworks selected by KUNSTLABOR 2. It shows how diversity and community are expressed in contemporary art – insisting on the search for our own identity and making a decisive statement about who we are."

Celia Renee Meissner

Celia Renee Meissner's artistic work is dominated by her light and sound installations. She interacts with spatial sculptures and compositions on selected places, which ultimately reflect personal themes. After training as a wood sculptor in Oberammergau, she studied fine arts at the HBKSaar in Saarbrücken. Her work is always influenced by classical sculpture, which was further strengthened by an Erasmus semester at the Art Academy of Latvia in Riga. She is currently studying at the AdBK Munich under artist Professor Hermann Pitz.

She is always researching new forms of expression that are intended to raise the boundaries of materiality and form to a new, personal level.

Johannes Sanchez Guevara

Johannes Sanchez Guevara was born and raised in Bogotá. His artistic work began in Buenos Aires, where he studied film and photography. Johannes Guevara has been working as a photographer and artist in Munich since 2019.  

Johannes creates collages from different pictorial material and reflects on political and cultural themes such as colonialism, new masculinity, and spirituality. His performative interventions show how the artist processes these themes.

Lorand Lajos

Lorand Lajos is an interdisciplinary artist. He creates sculptures, stages installations, and gives performances in galleries, clubs and public spaces. His works question themes of sexuality, beauty, and death in their social integration. Since 2018 he has been studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Professor Alexandra Bircken. In 2019 he founded the artist collective LOVERS Munich as a platform for events, parties, and safe spaces for the queer community. His fashion label Atelier Lorand Lajos is internationally known for its sexy clubwear, cool accessories and unusual couture. 

Volane

Lane and Louis have been working together under the pseudonym Volane since 2014.  With a multidisciplinary background that includes graffiti, pop & street art, illustration and painting, the artist duo aims to depict beauty in general. Symbolism and iconography are the focus of their work. The artists often create compositions that take up a variety of themes related to art, sex, the vulgar and everyday life. Their paintings often question our perspective on beauty and offer the viewer a new perspective on the different facets of the modern life.  As they lead their lives together as artists, lovers and parents, their values and principles are clearly visible on canvas. What is perceived as ugly or tasteless is transformed into colourful images. The raw becomes a symbol of honesty, and taboos become naked truths.