Hirundoaves

posted by Hannah Pezzack March 5, 2019

Lion Sauterleute – otherwise known as Hirundoaves – is an independent artist based in Leipzig, Germany. Working predominantly as a freelancer within the city’s thriving underground electronic music community, Lion utilises a plethora of digital techniques to create surrealist, three-dimensional designs.

Whilst reflecting the distinct visual identity of a given brand, his unique personal stamp is none the less powerfully present. Bold, disruptive colours meld with glitch art, shaping a kitsch vision of a dystopian, sci-fi future. Drawing inspiration from DIY culture and graffiti typography, he develops customised fonts, spliced together with found and stock photography. Objects such as cats, hair clips or old master paintings are super-transposed over drifting, orbital forms.

Growing up in a family of designers, artists and art-theorists, a career in visual art was predestined. However, after choosing to study painting at Leipzig’s Academy of Fine Arts, Lion became alienated from the medium: “The academic way painting is taught at the academy doesn’t appeal to me. Lately, I’ve moved into fine arts classes which allow me to take a much more diverse approach. I think that’s why I also love the freedom of designing record and posters; each venture allows me to think in an unexpected and experimental way.”