Erwin Olaf: Strange Beauty

In his work, the Dutch artist Erwin Olaf (1959) creates worlds which are thought through to the smallest detail. They look confusingly similar to our own, but often pose a riddle: behind the immaculate aesthetics borrowed from the film and advertising industry, something repressed is lurking.

His works are negotiating questions about democracy, equality or self-determination. On the occasion of his first major solo exhibition in Germany, this accompanying catalogue explains key aspects of Olaf’s artistic work.

At the same time, it offers an attractive overview of his multifaceted work over the past forty years. Olaf’s most recent works, which were created especially for the exhibition in the Kunsthalle Munich, are also published here.

Erwin Olaf began to capture nightlife with documentary photography in the 1980s and developed into an artist who, as a director and photographer, creates cinematic photographs that are mostly characterized by a mystical atmosphere. His work is recognized worldwide and presented in many exhibitions.