Through the critical deconstruction of signs and symbols, Lou Cantor traces how meaning is endlessly reframed and re-inscribed, revealing both the failure and beauty of our attempts to understand one another.

Lou Cantor is a Berlin-based artist collective founded in 2011, composed of Józefina Chętko and Kolja Glaeser, whose main scope of interest is rooted in intersubjectivity and the complexities of interpersonal communication. Their practice examines these entanglements through a conceptual lens attuned to the instability of language and perception. Engaging with the idea of the “Empire of Signs,” as coined by a prominent French theorist, the collective explores the mutability of meaning – where sign, signal, and context continually loop and blur, leaving interpretation suspended in perpetual flux.

Working across various media, Lou Cantor navigates a saturated semiotic landscape in which communication is both the medium and the subject of inquiry. Through the critical deconstruction of signs and symbols, their work reveals how meaning is constantly reframed and re-inscribed – tracing not only the failures of communication but its potential beauty. This philosophical and linguistic inquiry is deeply embedded in their research-based practice, which includes a sustained engagement with publishing platforms such as Sternberg Press and MIT Press, as well as contributions to Kwartalnik Rzeźby Orońsko.

Recent solo exhibitions include Parallax, Medūza Gallery, Vilnius (2024); Endless Eye, Orońsko Sculpture Center, Orońsko (2023); and Time Crystals, Sgomento, Zürich (2022). They have also participated in Ars Electronica (Linz); Hypersea, Monaco (2018, curated by Juliette Desorgues); The Policeman’s Beard is Half Constructed, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2017); Spiritual Reality, Decad, Berlin (2017); Fellow Travelers, apexart, New York (2017); Cyborg Dreams, Pitt St, New York (2017); and The Labour of Watching, Leto gallery, Warsaw, and OSLO10, Basel (2015/2016). Other group exhibitions include Language and Misunderstanding, CUNY, New York (2015); Epistemic Excess, Artists Space, New York (2015); the 7th Berlin Biennale; New National Art, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw; 83 Pitt St, New York (2017); Transit Gallery, Prague (2016); and the 44th Salón Nacional de Artistas, Pereira, Colombia (2016).

Their lecture performance Time Farm was presented at CUNY in 2015. Lou Cantor has also been featured in talks and performances at institutions such as ICA Miami, Columbia University, MoMA New York, the Serpentine Pavilion, ICA London, Hamburger Bahnhof, Culturgest, Teatro Stabile del Veneto "Carlo Goldoni", CAC Vilnius, and others.

Selected public and private collections include the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Hotel Europejski Collection in Warsaw, ADAC Collection in Munich, and the Zita Collection in Fidar.

Featured Works

For freedom!

The Labor of Watching. The Endless Eye

The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed

Fellow Travellers

Flash Art 

artgenève 10th Edition: Always On the Mark

Clouds, 2013

with Pawel Althamer