Lawrence Lek
[DE/UK]
Lawrence Lek is a Frankfurt-born simulation artist based in London. He creates site-specific virtual worlds and speculative films using gaming software, 3D animation, installation, and performance. By rendering real places within fictional scenarios, his digital environments reflect the impact of the virtual on our perception of reality. In many works, he uses simulation “as institutional critique”.
Lek studied at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, Architectural Association, London, and The Cooper Union, New York. He trained and worked as an architect before embarking on a career as an artist. Recent exhibitions include: Hyperpavilion, Venice Biennale (2017); The New Normal, UCCA, Beijing (2017); Glasgow International, Tramway, Glasgow (2016); SeMA Biennale Mediacity Seoul 2016, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul (2016); Missed Connections, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf (2016); Secret Surface, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2016); Software, Hard Problem, Cubitt Gallery, London (2015); and The Uncanny Valley, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge (2015). In his multi-year project Bonus Levels, Lek created nine different “utopian fiction” simulations of well known sites in London, including the Royal Academy of Arts (in Unreal Estate).
He is the recipient of the 2017 Jerwood/FVU Award, the 2015 Dazed Emerging Artist Award, and the 2015 Tenderflix/Tenderpixel Artist Video Award.
