Lou Hoyer

The polyphony of drawing, text and musical performance characterizes Lou Hoyer’s work. Her pastel drawings are condensed daydreams. They walk the line between inside and outside, utopia and dystopia. Every line is a thought. She invents surreal images of female bodies that rub up against social expectations: the woman who paints her body with fish skin becomes a merwoman; In the next picture, the fish tail symbolizes the restrictions that a woman experiences in our society. Lou Hoyer’s large-format charcoal drawings show anamorphic figures. They multiply, break apart and merge again. The aesthetic deformation determines the perception of the body from within. Lou Hoyer reveals the physical act of drawing: the lines follow the waves of distortion and the motif, despite its monumentality, begins to move and takes on something fleeting.

Lou Hoyer (* 1985 in Berlin) lives and works in Potsdam, Germany. She studied fine arts at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) from 2005 to 2011 and completed her Master’s Studies under Prof. Valérie Favre. In 2012 she received the SRE Frida Kahlo Fellowship at the Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City. From 2014 to 2019 Lou Hoyer was the editor of the magazine NICHTSALSSCHOENHEIT – TEXTE, BILDER, PARTITUREN published annually in conjunction with theatre performances and exhibitions. She has shown her work in Berlin, New York, Mexico City, London, and Capetown, among others. Her work has appeared in various magazines, such as Kunstforum International, BOMB, Vice Magazine and Art.

1985

born in Berlin, Germany
2005–2010

Fine Arts, Universität der Künste Berlin
2011

Meisterschülerin, Valérie Favre, Universität der Künste Berlin
2012

Frida Kahlo Scholarship, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, Mexico
Since 2014

Editor of the journal *NICHTSALSSCHOENHEIT – TEXTE, BILDER, PARTITUREN*

Selected Exhibitions

2025

Someone is in my House Galerie Laetitia Gorsy Leipzig DE
Flowers of Evil Neighbours BBAP Brussels Brussels BE
Frisches Obst für Schneewittchen Künstlerverein Walkmühle Performance Wiesbaden DE
Jott Hoch Zwei Schau Fenster Berlin Berlin DE
2024

Lou Hoyer – Die Utopie der Anderen Galerie Laetitia Gorsy Leipzig DE Solo Exhibition
15 Jahre Steinwerk Kunstraum Ortloff Leipzig DE
Liste Porte Leipzig DE
Traces of the White Rabbit BCMA Berlin DE
2023

Die Lücke, die der Fehler lässt / Lage der Fiktion Atelier Scholz, Uferhallen Berlin Berlin DE
speicherN Saatgutspeicher Potsdam Potsdam DE
under~water~love Under Project Eigen+Art Pop Up Cape Town ZA
2022

Im Bann des Anagramm II MZIN at the Museum der bildenden Künste Performance Leipzig DE
Das Pferd frisst keinen Gurkensalat Kunstraum Potsdam Potsdam DE Institutional Exhibition
2021

Wo sind meine Wunderwerke? Kunstraum Potsdam Performance Potsdam DE Institutional Exhibition
welcome aboard the apocalyptic rider Kunstraum Potsdam Potsdam DE Solo Exhibition, Institutional Exhibition
3x3 Anagramme Kunstraum Potsdam Performance with Juliane Tief Potsdam DE Institutional Exhibition
2019

Ping Pong M54 Basel CH
2018

Emotional Rescue Elephant Kunsthall Lillehammer Lillehammer NO
Behind the Curtain SRO Gallery Brooklyn, NY US
2015

Inside the Glasshole Künstlerverein Walkmühle Wiesbaden DE

Selected Works

Publications

2021

slippery when wet

Fairs

Art Düsseldorf, Galerie Laetitia Gorsy
Art Cologne, Mallorca, Galerie Laetitia Gorsy
Art Karlsruhe, Galerie Laetitia Gorsy

Performances

2020–2020

Ich nicht, with Juliane Tief, Kunsthaus Sans Titre, Potsdam, DE
Psychic Reading, Cosmic Arbeitsamt, Bob’s Pogo Bar, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, DE
2019–2019

Fountain of Youth und Augenwanderung, with mit Juliane Tief, as part of Wunderkammer, Kulturscheune, Berlin, DE
Wo sind meine Wunderwerke und Gedanken einer Verliererin, with Phosphor, as part of Wunder (NAS #5) Performancetage, EIGEN + ART Lab, Berlin, DE
Prozessionsspinnerinnen, Nichts-Als-Schoenheit-Prozession, Berlin, 2019 Ophelia’s Night, with José A. Elguezabal, Private Villa, Potsdam, DE
2018–2018

Omni Insomnia, with José A. Elguezabal, as part of Handliche Symbiose, Werra-Projektraum, Berlin, DE
Opera to Go und Dialogue for Wind and Wave, with Lola Göller, as part of Emotional Rescue, Elephant Kunsthall, Lillehammer, NO
I Know Your Number, as part of Behind the Curtain, SRO Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Symphony for Waves and Wind, Hiddensee, DE
2017–2017

Shadow-Style Beauty Tutorial, as part of Schattengewächsel, Argh, Berlin, DE
2015–2015

Stellungssonnette, with Miriam Kohler, as part of Porn Porn Porn, EIGEN+ART Lab, Berlin, DE