Joschua Yesni Arnaut works across photography, sculpture, and installation with a performative approach. His practice examines the relationship between body, memory, and space, deconstructing autobiographical narratives of power, masculinity, and vulnerability to open new perspectives on self and social interaction.
In »Anti Heroes«, Arnaut’s work engages with questions of post-heroic masculinity, collective memory, and self-staging. His sculpture »The Total Wrongness Of What I’m Absolutely Sure Of« (2025) stages a suspended moment between vulnerability and confrontation: a life-sized figure of the artist stands in a corner, turned toward the viewer, eyes closed, holding a branch that shifts between support, symbol, and potential weapon. The worn surface and broken nose evoke erosion, violence, and the fragility of heroic representation.
As a teenager, art collector Lukas Jakob (*1998 in Freiburg im Breisgau) found identification and inspiration for his own worldview in visual art. Works from his collection relate this personal approach to art to the motif of the antihero in the exhibition. In this way, »Anti Heroes« offers a perspective on collecting from the viewpoint of Generation Z. On the same floor, the presentation by ESSLINGER BAHNWÄRTER 2025 scholarship recipient Grischa Kaczmarek continues across two rooms, connecting with the Jakob Collection through explorations of post-heroic masculinity, queer identity, and pop culture.
