A solo exhibition by Lex Kartanė (AIWS) at Levishka’s Head, Berlin
Levishka’s Head, an unconventional queer art space in Friedrichshain, announces The God of the Forest, a new multimedia exhibition by Berlin-based Lithuanian artist and zine maker Lex Kartanė (AIWS), curated by Carol Rynkevich. The exhibition opens with a vernissage on August 16-17 and runs through a series of dedicated public events until its finissage on September 5.
The exhibition features over 100 works — illustration, painting, print, and mixed media. Nature runs through every piece here as the whole language of the show.
Concept of the exhibition
A feather, unlike so much of what humans take from the natural world, is not extracted but relinquished. It becomes evidence of a body that has already moved on — offering something without ever having been asked for it. That distinction, between what is claimed and what is given up freely, becomes something closer to a method than a metaphor for Kartanė, whose multimedia artworks and storytelling narrate a dualistic vulnerability throughout The God of the Forest and its accompanying events.
Two stories carry the exhibition as mirror images of the same ache: a being devoted to the Forest God, longing for recognition, and the Forest God who refuses to perform on demand. The exhibition does not say which is harder to inhabit. It asks what we owe to whatever keeps almost answering us, and what it costs them each time we ask again. Written from a disability perspective, both narratives resist the same demand — that presence must be justified before it can be accepted.
Through a range of visual art techniques spanning illustration, painting and printmaking, The God of the Forest invites visitors into a quiet space where longing settles into grief, and grief into a kind of wonder about what it means to love something that can never truly belong to us.
Dates and dedicated events
Entrance to the exhibition as well as all the events are free of charge. Donations are welcome, and 100% of them will go to the artist.
The God of the Forest is not on continuous public display. The exhibition is accessible to visitors only on the dedicated dates. All events are sober events.
Sun, Aug 16
17:00
Vernissage
The exhibition’s opening night: come see the artworks for the first time, meet Lex and Carol, learn more about the exhibition and how it came to life from the artist and celebrate the show’s launch together.
Mon, Aug 17
17:00
Vernissage, masked event (please bring a protective face mask).
This is meant to make the exhibition more accessible for immunocompromised guests, people with chronic respiratory or autoimmune conditions and anyone else who’s more vulnerable to illness and might otherwise not be able to attend.
Sat, Aug 22
Doors 13:30 · Start 14:00
Zine workshop with Lex
About zine-making workshop:
Cut-and-paste pictures and patterns, hand lettering, xerox distortion and collage — zines carry a visual language of messiness, urgency and anti-slickness that pushes back against the polish of mass media and advertising. Their appeal lies in rejecting the gatekeeping mechanisms that sit between a person and a public voice.
Zines can be as personal, weird or specific as the maker wants. This has made them a training ground and outlet for people historically excluded from traditional art and publishing worlds — often BIPOC and queer people, working-class artists, and disabled people — to develop a voice and an audience through the means available to them.
Only 8 places are available, please register via the link:
https://forms.gle/1RDxnG1sKVadLbgv6
Fri, Aug 28
Doors 18:30 · Start 19:00
Zine reading with Lex and open exhibition day
Lex Kartanė will read their zine, the story underlying The God of the Forest, followed by a discussion of the concept and ideas behind it. The exhibition will remain open for viewing throughout the evening following the reading.
Sat, Sep 5
17:00
Finissage
The final celebration of The God of the Forest — a chance to revisit the exhibition one last time, reflect on the stories it told, and send the show off together.
About the Venue
Levishka’s Head, Grünberger 13, Berlin
Levishka’s Head is an unconventional queer art space. Led by two lesbian political immigrants, Löwa and Carol, it blends dog grooming by day with cultural events by night — a model that lets artists use the space free of charge to showcase their work and organize queer cultural events. The space prioritizes people who are systemically excluded from other opportunities.
About the Artist
Lex Kartanė (AIWS) is a Berlin-based Lithuanian artist and zine maker whose work spans illustration, painting, and printmaking. They create immersive worlds where fantasy and reality intertwine through myth, symbolism and narrative to explore neurodiversity, disability, queerness, mental health, human relationships and the natural world, drawing on their own experience as a disabled and chronically ill artist. Their practice centers storytelling as a means of questioning dominant narratives and imagining more inclusive ways of understanding one another.
About the Curator
Carol Rynkevich is a Belarusian queer performer and emerging curator. The exhibitions they curate focus on themes that are strongly political, working exclusively with queer artists from a range of backgrounds to showcase the variety of artistic statements and methods not always found in institutionalised spaces.
