Explanatory notes on Johannes Buchholz

Johannes Buchholz, born in Ludwigshafen am Rhein in 2000, is a non-binary artist who lives and studies in Düsseldorf. Key aspects of their work include exploring textile techniques from a queer perspective and addressing topics such as brand psychology and consumer aesthetics in late capitalism. Time and again, this also touches on the threshold of product design.

Chocolate derivatives, 2026
Sex toys are industrialised intimacy, standardised arousal, normalised lust. It is about examining major German brand identities that show an upward curve in their logos. An arc can be interpreted as a smile, an embrace or movement. This type of logo is often found in late capitalism. Johannes Buchholz is concerned with the question of how brand aesthetics control our desires. This is usually achieved through subconscious psychological mechanisms that evoke our emotionality and connection to brands. The Tui logo, reminiscent of the shape of a dildo, is made orally consumable here as a chocolate object. The term derivative (from the Latin derivare, to derive) refers to financial instruments that are derived from shares, indices or commodities. The Tui logo is thus derived as a chocolate dildo, humorously referring to the capital gains that are often made from investments in commodities (e.g. cocoa, gold, silver) through derivatives. The chocolate dildos are presented on an aluminium étagère, reminiscent of presentation layouts in shops.

The TOI, 2025
The work ‘The TOI’ is about a specific brand aesthetic that is transported into a new context. The Tui logo is placed in the context of the sex toy industry as a flexible silicone dildo and addresses the issue of insatiable mass tourism. Johannes Buchholz is interested in how large corporations influence us with their brand aesthetics as an overall concept.

Carpet Dildo, 2024
Johannes Buchholz also explores textile techniques such as industrial carpet tufting and crocheting soft sculptures. Thus, the work Carpet Dildo has a furniture-like and decorative character on the one hand, while on the other hand it can also be seen as something essential or organic, albeit inspired by products from the sex toy industry.

Explanatory notes on Laura Marika Clemens

Laura Marika Clemens was born in Schwelm in 2001. She lives in Düsseldorf and has been studying fine art with a focus on painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy since 2020.

Laura Marika Clemens wants to use photography to find a new perspective in her painting that does not refer to either two-dimensional or three-dimensional space. She uses photography as a medium to enable the viewer to reinterpret painting by leaving boundaries behind. She draws inspiration for her motifs from the depictions of kami (Shinto). These are gods, spirits or forces of nature that inhabit various places such as seas, mountains, waterfalls or trees. They are neither good nor evil, but powerful and capricious. They can help or destroy in their wrath.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the pictures, please contact the artist Laura Marika Clemens directly by email.