Installation view of Joy Sauce, mixed media video installation, 2024, 12 min.

In Joy Sauce, William Ludwig Lutgens explores the state of today’s workers and achievement-oriented individuals—who are both their own masters and slaves. A narrated puppet theater is set in a historical abbey repurposed as an archive, museum, and civic center. The characters appear as zombified beings who have lost the will to be themselves. They are trapped in the illusion of freedom, accompanied by a constant struggle to perform in a system where current economic structures exacerbate the worst in people. The film reflects on self-rejection, navigating a world of excessive superficiality and productivity, and the struggle to find meaningful social and physical connections in an auto-exploitative, overachieving, ‘nothing is impossible’ society.

This project was made possible with the support of Kunstplaats VONK.

Exhibition views of Fantasy Supplement at Plus-One Gallery New South.

Only goats lay eggs, 2024, spray paint, Oil stick and shellac ink on canvas, and artist-made frame, 123,5 X 152cm.

We got to find the thing that nails him, 2024, Spray paint, oil stick and shellac ink on canvas, and artist-made frame, 205,5 x 144cm

Not placed at the center of the universe, 2024, Spray paint, oil stick, and shellac ink on canvas, and artist-made frame, 106,5 x 82 cm.

A constant battle with the straight world, 2024, Spray paint, oil stick and shellac ink on canvas, and artist-made frame, 197,5 x 131,5 cm

installation view of Joy Sauce, 2024, mixed media video installation, 12 min. At Vonk Centrale, Hasselt, Belgium

Exhibition views of Happy To Hear You’re Doing Fine at 38CC in Delft. 04/03 - 29/04 /2023.

photography: We Document Art ©

Gladiators On A Hike, 2023, artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, graphite and oil paint on wood, aluminium frame, 142,5 x 143 cm

Group exhibition 'No I Am Spartacus' at Red Herring Salon, 2023

Group exhibition at Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong, 2023

Heee! No more sun flower oil! She interrupted, 2022, aquarelle and rice paper, mounted on wood, 61cm x 50cm x 3,2cm

Our candidates of chaos giggle goggle google, 2022, aquarelle and rice paper, mounted on wood, 61cm x 50cm x 3,2cm

Installation view of ‘How to fall in love with art and the art of not wasting food (Dutch edition)’, 2022, wood, fabric, stuffing, oil paint, potatoes, wallpaper print, aquarelle drawings on Mulberry paper, clamps, wheels, variable dimensions.

At Museum Schunck Glaspaleis, Heerlen, The Netherlands, 2022 - 2023.

Panorama of mentally ill, 2022, Aluminium Offset plates, spray paint 243,9 X 527,5 cm

Exhibition views of ‘My Mind Is The Mind Of A Fish’ at PLUS ONE Gallery, Antwerp Belgium, 2022.

Attack of the Dunduri, 2022
Aquarelle, oil paint, and rice paper mounted on stained wood
59 x 40,2 cm

Wolfpack 2.0, 2022
Aquarelle, oil paint, graphite and bone glue on sketching paper and rice paper mounted on stained wood and artist made frame
55 cm x 46 cm

A Bush Does Not Beat Its Own Branches , 2022 Aquarelle, oil paint, and rice paper mounted on stained wood
42 x 34 cm

Plastic Bottle Contest , 2022
Aquarelle, oil paint, and rice paper mounted on stained wood
30 x 40 cm

They Said I Could Stay Over Real Maybe, 2022 Aquarelle, rice paper and Japanese Mulberry paper mounted on stained wood
96 x 96 cm

Exhibition views of The Bigger The Short, The Sweeter The Bottom at De Garage/ Museum Hof Van Busleyden Mechelen, Belgium. From 18th of March till 29th of May 2022.

I didn't realize I was at a party, 2021, artist-made fractured paper, Hanji paper, sketching paper, spray paint, oil paint, beeswax, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood, 202,4 x 142,4 cm

Call me a horse! Shakespeare in love, 2022, artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, expanding foam, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood, 202 x 152,4 cm

The bigger the short, the sweeter the bottom, 2020, coloured pencils, graphite, oil paint, and bone glue on Hanji paper, canvas, and stained wood, 142,6 x 102,6 cm

Everybody gets one egg, two turns and three potatoes #3, 2022, Textile, filling, clothing, wig, oil paint, stained wood, metal 110x 140 x 92 cm

Delaying the return to democracy, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, expanding foam, bone glue on canvas and stained wood, 122 cm x 152,5 cm

Everybody gets one egg, two turns and three potatoes #2, 2022, Textile, filling, clothing, wig, oil paint, stained wood, metal 165,5 x 92 x 110 cm

Sports goods lynching, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, textile, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood, 151,9 cm x 111,9 cm

How to fall in love with art and the art
of not wasting food in the year 2022, 2022 Textile, clothing, filling, oil paint, wigs, wallpaper, potatoes, variable dimensions

We don’t trust us, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood, 99,9 cm x 141,9 cm

Thoughts don’t stop, 2022, Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, expanding foam, bone glue on canvas and stained wood, 202,2 cm x 152,3 cm

Human People and The European Union, 2022 Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, expanding foam, bone glue on canvas
and stained wood, 162,2 cm x 201,8 cm

Pigs resistant to lung disease, 2022, Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas and stained wood, 107 cm x 117 cm

For simply being, 2022, Aquarelle, graphite, oil paint, rice paper and bone glue on wood, 49,8 cm x 29,9 cm

A painful matter into a circus, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood, 111,8 cm x 152,1 cm

That Clinking Clanking Clunking, 2021 Installation of 7 sculptures, variable dimensions.

Infectious as it seems to be, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood,
100,2 cm x 117,3 cm

Acute food insecurity forces, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas, and stained wood, 151,9 cm x 121,9 cm

Billionaires’ laughter/ Filthy Filthy, 2022, Aquarelle, graphite, rice paper, oil paint and bone glue on stained wood, 50,1 cm x 32 cm

Spoiled little mamma’s boy, 2021,
Wood filament, beeswax, latex, moustache, clothing, wood, oil paint, wig, book, 41,4 cm x 28,2 cm x 55 cm

Touch the object touch the rum, 2022,
Artist-made fractured paper, textile, epoxy resin, spray paint, oil paint, bone glue on canvas
and stained wood, 114,4 cm x 153,5 cm

Q is for cumber’, 2021,
Ceramics, wax, resin, wood, metal, clothing hanger, spray paint and cigarette buds, oil paint, plastic and wood stain 162 x 50 x 46cm

Part of the exhibition That Clinking Clanking Clunking.

A humanoid chair sculpture functioning as a player in the chair dance. The head is a portrait of me, the clothing hangar looks like a cucumber and the bucket is filled with cigarette buds with a note saying "Q is for cumber".

Exhibition views of THAT CLINKING, CLANKING, CLUNKING  At Bruthaus Gallery, Waregem, Belgium   06/03 - 18/04/2021

(in collaboration with PLUS-ONE Gallery)

“ In the exhibition That clinking, clanking, clunking William Ludwig Lutgens in a
characteristically playful manner interprets aspects of life in financialized capitalism.
Playing with the idea of chair dance, the artist creates a world of absurd, associatively prompted characters entangled in the dynamics of competition. Consisting of works in sculpture, painting and drawing, as well as audio, the exhibition illuminates artist’s multidisciplinary way of working and urge for technical and material experimentation.

William Ludwig Lutgens was invited to create the exhibition at Bruthaus gallery in Waregem as the laureate of the Gaver Prize 2020. “

‘Ich hab noch einer koffer in Berlin’  2021
Aquarelles, graphite, oil paint, beeswax and bone glue on rise paper, Japanese mulberry paper and Hanji paper, mounted on wood, 43,2x60,7cm

‘Machete’  2021 ,Ceramics, wood, textile, concrete, wood filament, wax, resin and wood stain, 130 x 56 x 60cm.

Another humanoid sculpture competing as a player in the chair dance. The model for the face was my favourite rap artist. On the back the word 'Machete' is engraved - It connotes to cutting down trees.

‘Cock’ Aquarelle on rise paper and bone glue on sketching paper, plexi glass and oil paint on artist made frame, 31,2x22,2cm

‘Come on baby light my fire’ 2021, Aquarelles, oil paint, graphite, beeswax and bone glue on rise paper and Japanese mulberry paper, mounted on wood, 43,1x60,5cm

One out of a series of drawings in the exhibition That Clinking Clanking Clunking. Each drawing is titled with lyrics out of different songs suitable for a chair dance. The image depicts a bourgeoisie figure bossing workers to dig a mass grave in a circular dancing motion.

‘A circulating song for a chair game’  2021, Ceramics, resin, wax, carton, wood, isolation material, metal, rope, jute, electronic and wood stain, sound installation and two boxes, 146 x 105 x 40cm

This sculpture functions as the game master for the chair game. The spirit of capitalism. It depicts a demon-like severed goat head and it plays an annoying self-made song that clicks on and off at irregular intervals. The exhibition viewer becomes part of a choreography.

‘I’m living in coma’ 2021, Aquarelles, oil paint, graphite, beeswax and bone glue on rise paper and Japanese mulberry paper, mounted on wood, 60,7x43,1cm

‘An ocean of currency/water for the rich’ 2021,
Oil paint Spray paint, bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and wood, 142,5x102,6cm.

‘Like a carousel circling around the moon’  2021,
Aquarelles, oil paint, graphite, bone glue on rise paper and Japanese mulberry paper, mounted on wood, 60,7x43,1cm

‘Yanki boys’  2021, Aquarelle, color pencil and beeswax on sketching paper, plexi glass and oil paint on artist made frame, 31,2x22,2cm

‘Les grandes recettes’  2021, Ceramics, oil paint, wax, resin, books, newspaper, wood and wood stain

‘Two left feet for uncle Tsjombe’  2021, Ceramics, wax, resin, wood, textile, latex, metal, plastic and wood stain, 126 x 50 x 51cm

and

‘Flat gold for skinny bones’  2021, Ceramics, wax, resin, plexi glass, wood, aquarelle, oil paint, bone glue and wood stain, 144 x 57 x 38cm

‘That clinking clanking clunking sound’  2021,
Aquarelles, graphite, oil paint, pastel, tinfoil, bone glue on rise paper and Hanji paper, mounted on wood, 60,7x43,2cm.

Its title is derived from a scene out of the film 'Cabaret' sung by Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey. The drawing depicts two capitalist rats making stew from golden coins.

‘Nothing to be said/ nothing to declare’ 2021, Ceramics, wood, textile, oil paint, spray paint, wax, stockings, latex, resin and wood stain, 158 x 51 x 46,5cm

‘The director of contemporary art museum’  2021
Aquarelles, oil paint, graphite, pastel, beeswax and bone glue on rise paper and Japanese mulberry paper, mounted on wood, 60,6x43,2cm

Exhibition views of A Comedy of Humours at PLUS-ONE Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium. 17/12/2020 - 17/01/2021.

Using the humoural theory - which claims the human body and soul are regulated by four bodily fluids and dates all the way back to the origins of Western civilization - as the thematic focal point for the histrionic approach of his subject matter, Lutgens populates his parade of stories with the archetypal figure of the putto. These chubby, childlike incarnations of human folly contrast the gravity of the issues addressed in the scenes - some of which are taken from news footage of riots and protests, others were witnessed by the artist himself - with a joyful and almost obscene innocence. History presenting itself
as farcical debauchery with an emphasis on piss and jizz, puke and blood as narrative and compositional motives. Whether they are fighting over a statue, operating or torturing a patient with sausages, engag- ing in sexual ceremonies of the sadomasochistic kind or making a victory lap on the back of a goat, they never fail to unleash and embody mayhem and mischief.

Home Alone at Villa Rose, 2020 coloured pencils, graphite, oil paint, aquarelles and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas, and wood 142,6 x 102,6 cm

The recession bores me, 2020 graphite, aquarel, oil on paper with artist made frame, 29,7 x 21 cm

We love you too much to care about us, 2020
coloured pencils, graphite, oil paint, spray paint, aquarelles and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas, and wood 142,6 x 102,6 cm

Dear Diarrhea, 2020 Oil pastel, coloured pencils, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas, and wood. 203,6 x 142,6 cm

A solitary man in Oran, 2020 coloured pencils, oil paint, pigments and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas, and wood, 142,6 x 102,6 cm

Tick Tack, the street value of Red Herring, 2020, Coloured pencils, graphite, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas, and wood, 142,6 x 102,6 cm.

A red herring refers to a deliberately misleading clue that diverts attention from the truth.

The painting depicts a street robbery/ a trickkery which happened in the Haringrodestraat in Antwerp.

The friends of Dorothy, 2020, graphite, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas, and wood, 142x102cm.

In gay slang, a "friend of Dorothy" is a gay man.

The painting depicts a crowd control policeman beating up a protester, and another individual trying to stop the violent interaction.

The Rally, 2020, oil pastel, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, marouflated on canvas and wood, 142x102cm.

The Four Humours, 2020, oil, spray paint, pencils and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and frame. 141x101cm.

Pearls on the beach, 2020, graphite, aquarelles and markers on paper, framed, 63 x 46 cm.

The irritation, 2020, graphite, aquarelles and markers on paper, framed, 63 x 46 cm.

Le peuple d’abord, 2020, Coloured pencils, Oil pastels, oil paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and wooden frame, 153,5 x 109,5cm.

Exhibition view L’Heure Bleue, PLUS-ONE Gallery, 2020.

Nude with deer, 2020, oil, coloured pencils and bone glue on Japanese Mulberry paper, mounted on canvas, and artist made frame, 91,1 x 61,5 cm.

Colonel Fisher-price on the road to King Kong, 2019, Oil pastels, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and wooden frame, 212 x 153.

We the people! A story in piss and jizz, 2019, Coloured pencils, Oil pastels, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and wooden frame, 153,5 x 109,5cm.

There goes another, 2019, Coloured pencils, Oil pastels, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and wooden frame, 153,5 x 109,5 cm.

An elephant tusk for an eye, 2019, Coloured pencils, Oil pastels, oil paint, spray paint and bone glue on Hanji paper, mounted on canvas and wooden frame, 153,5 x 109,5cm.

photo: Piet Eggermont.

The Belgian Baggage (and the Guilt Quilt) / De Belgische Bagage ( en de Guilt Quilt), 2019, mixed media, textile, cardboard, Variable dimensions. As part of group show Dissidence, 2019, At Z33 - House for Contemporary Art, Hasselt, Belgium.

Untitled installation, Happyland, 2019 (work in progress, in collaboration with Che Go Eun), mixed media, video, print, paper, variable dimensions.

Untitled, Greek Fire, 2019, watercolor and print on Hanji paper and Xuan paper, 210x300cm.

O dierbaar, 59,4x42cm, watercolor pencils, acrylic markers and graphite on paper, 2019.

Installation views of Please Play By The Rules at GALLERY GALLERY, 2018. Made possible by FLACC.

The Conspiracy, 2018, transparent medium and oil on unstreched canvas, 189x190cm

Minister of popular culture, guns and social affairs, 2018, metal, wheels, stuffed teddy bear, noose, 180x157x40cm.

Please play by the rules, 2018, ceremics, wood, metal, Enamel paint, variable dimensions

Real race politics, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and print on paper & Frame, 63 x 46 cm

Installation view of The plastic bendy drinking straw. Part of groupshow, Streams of Consciousness, at Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, 2018.

The plastic bendy drinking straw, 2018, paper, frames, acrylic paint, print, watercolor pencils and acrylic markers, variable dimensions.

Exhibition view of soloshow Eat me up and spit me out, Junior. at PLUS-ONE gallery (Zuid), 2018.

The Complete Canon Law Guide Set, 2017, oil paint on marble.

Hugo Boss, 2018, Acrylic on wall, variable dimensions.

All you can feed, 2018, oil paint on unstretched canvas, 115,5x105cm.

No Thanks Junior, 2018, textile, acrylics, wood, 162x16x5cm.

My Favourite Boxers, 2017, Oil on canvas, 195x130cm.

The Future is Bamboo, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

Confiserie ethnique, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

The Local Architecture, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

Power Rangers, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

Boxing, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

The businessman, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

With its clothes off, 2017, acrylics and silkscreen on paper, 59,4x42cm.

I puked I puked Code Name Snake Eyes, 2018,
Acryl on Wood, 145 x 102 cm.

I puked I puked Souvenirs from the Congo, 2018
Acrylics on Wood, 148,5x106cm.

I puked I puked Asians or North Americans, 2018
Acryl on Wood, 148,5x106cm.

I puked I puked a sad sad Stuffed Elephant, 2018, 97x103cm, acrylics on wood.

Methods of Amputation, 2017, mixed media on paper, frame, fabric animal, 92x198cm.

Cocaine of the poor, 2018, oil on canvas, 195 x 130 cm.

Puke Duke, 2018, colored pencil, acrylics and graphite on paper & frame, 63 x 46 cm.

Nichts ist so wie es scheint, 2017, colored pencil graphite, acrylics and print on paper & frame, 63 x 46 cm.

Please Play By The Rules, 2018, graphite and acrylics on paper & frame, 63 x 46 cm.

Koning Boudewijn Kijkt Toe Vanuit Zijn Hoek, 2017, Oil paint on unstretched canvas, 105x89,5cm.

Lutgens Family Emblem, 2018, Mixed media and Billy Bat on wooden tabletop, 130 x 110 cm.