Unique copy (1/5).
Artist: Jonathan Leih
Version: Lambda print on Dibond with plexiglass
Leih makes what you call Strange Cityscapes. Do not expect beautifully stylized facades and vistas from him. Capturing a church or a water feature for a romantic postcard effect is absolutely out of the question. His artist motto is 'Nothing is what it seems' for nothing. He prefers to turn the world upside down, never takes anything too seriously and approaches everything with a wink.
A few years ago he created a special series of cityscapes under the title Robots. He has composed photos of world cities such as New York, Paris and Amsterdam into a new, special unity. The result: a formidable, science-fiction-like figure that literally overwhelms the viewer. You're transfixed, wondering what's going on here.
Leih has transformed the city into a monumental mechanical giant. Shocking and terrifying at first, but on closer inspection nevertheless endearing and touching. What is immediately noticeable is the monumentality of the work: the size (80 * 120) and the fact that it concerns buildings. You can photograph a visit to a city and then turn it into a traditional photo album, or you can go about it like Leih does. Architecturally interesting buildings, some of which are instantly recognisable, have been used to evoke another image: a robot or a transformer. In the component parts you immediately recognize a number of well-known buildings. A city presented as a mechanism in the form of a quest.
Work is signed and comes with a certificate of authenticity.