Andreas Leikauf
Biography
Andreas Leikauf was born in Judenburg, Austria in 1966. He studied painting
and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Artistically, Leikauf was
inspired by the art of the 1980s. The 1980s were an era of evolving global
capitalism, political upheaval, global mass media, wealth disparity and
distinct music and fashion characterised by hip-hop and electronic pop music.
This had a strong influence on the generation of artists who grew up during
this period. The fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the decade marked the
end of the Cold War, but the era was also marked by the African famine.
Prominent art movements of the time included Neo Geo, the Generation of Images
and Neo-Expressionism, which took hold in Germany, France and Italy. Artists
such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and
Julian Schnabel were among the most important artists of this period, as were
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who developed the street
art and graffiti movement that quickly became well-known.
The reference to pop art and graffiti art can also be found in Leikauf's works, whose intense atmosphere and suggestive power are created by the tight image-text structure.
There is a lot of talk in art. Literally. Every exhibition contains an exhibition text, an opening speech, a catalogue, at least one critical article in the newspaper. If an artist is successful, word gets around and his fame rises through word of mouth. The talk in art is just as important as the visual in itself. Whether this is to be seen as positive or negative remains to be seen. In any case, Leikauf takes up the theme with his expressive image-text combinations, which is reminiscent of graphic novels.