Mathes with new socially critical sculpture "The Wave" at LEMU

At the LEMU, the Langenzersdorf Museum, artists from the Bisamberg region will present their works in the fields of painting, graphics, photography, and sculpture under the title "Everything Nature" from May 6 to June 21, 2026. Sculptor Andreas Mathes from Bisamberg, who primarily creates his works using wood from the region, will showcase his new socially critical sculpture "The Wave" at LEMU for the first time.

Art that asks questions. Mathes presents his new sculpture "The Wave" at LEMU. It addresses a natural phenomenon that also represents a societal image. The work consists of individual wood scraps. Each piece is small and limited on its own. Yet, the nailed elements support and reinforce each other—just as opinions and emotions can escalate. The sculpture symbolizes a question: Do we recognize when a movement becomes a threat and the moment before it crashes down upon us?

"I often critically engage with societal issues in my works. With the sculptures, I give these issues a visually and tangibly perceivable form. This way, the challenges we face as a society are not abstract but intuitively understandable," says Andreas Mathes, adding: "With 'The Wave,' I address a natural phenomenon that also serves as a societal image. Like water that recedes before it breaks, societal tension builds up layer by layer. The search for culprits and quick solutions condenses into a dynamic that is hard to stop."

The second sculpture visible at LEMU, "The Flame," was created from a found piece of a apricot tree split by lightning. The break in the wood shapes the entire sculpture and dictates the tension-filled movement, which is understood as a condensation of a moment of extreme energy—transformation without the suppression of the origin.