Fellow of the Sylt Foundation
L.I.E.S. aka Jonas Gerberding is taking part in the Sylt Foundation's exchange programme Transformation and Identity and will join the workshop in Yangon/Myanmar in 2017.

L.I.E.S. aka Jonas Gerberding was born and raised in Hamburg and Jakarta, Indonesia. His artist
name L.I.E.S. is an acronym for „Life is extremly strange“, which strangely seems to fit in the most
situations. With marker and spray cans he works on different materials i.e. wood, mirrors, pangas,
vinyl, paper, canvas, walls, newspaper. His paintings remind us of the thoughts and feelings of his
generation - Generation Y. A generation influenced by globalization and MTV and yet at the same
time estranged from the realities of consumption and commerce.
Influenced by the underground hip hop scenes in the 80’s and early 90’s in Germany, he started to
develop his love for graffiti art when he was 14. At first, he followed many graffiti artists in spraying
walls illegally under his undercover name “Lies” – also a play on German term “Read this” and the
English. His passion became his life, and he dropped out of high school. Despite not having a high
school diploma, he was accepted at the Art Academy of Hamburg and graduated 2008.
He exhibited in Hamburg, NYC, Johannesburg & Kampala.
Jonas lives in Hamburg, Germany.
Exhibitions:
2010 Rückzug aus Notwehr - Hinterconti Hells Club, Hamburg, Germany
2010 Laufende Ausstellung - BetaHaus , Hamburg, Germany
2011 Waten im Trotz - MS Stubnitz, Hamburg, Germany
2011 Life Is Extremly Strange - Jozi Arts Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa (Artist in
Residence)
2011 Urban Art auf Leinwand an der Steinwand - Wohler's, Hamburg, Germany
2011 Life Is Extremly Strange - PUR, Hamburg, Germany
2011 Attacke - Reaktionen auf eine seltsame Welt - Vorwerkstift, Hamburg, Germany
2012 Freund oder Feind - Galerie Lutterbeker, Lutterbek, Germany
2012 Sorry for the Color - Space on White, New York City, USA (Artist in Residence)
2012 Life is extremly strange – Wechslers, New York City, USA
2012 & 2014 L.I.E.S – St. Pauli Kreativnacht im Kaffee Stark
2014-2015 L.I.E.S.-Kneipentour (Pubtour)
2016 FREE(AK) SHOW - Mbuya, Kampala, Uganda