Clifford Chance

The motto "Pride without borders" encourages people to break down barriers and build a society that celebrates diversity and encourages everyone to live their identity. In an age where many LGBTQ+ people still face prejudice and inequality, it is crucial to show solidarity and stand up for a world characterised by acceptance and equality.

With this guiding principle, we invited clients, colleagues, and allies to join us for our Arcus Pride Art 2024 event in our Frankfurt office. The art exhibition, curated uniquely for Clifford Chance, explores many different facets of diversity, with the artists themselves present to facilitate open dialogue and engagement.

Our annual Arcus Pride Art series has become one of the largest corporate sponsored exhibitions of artworks by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual, queer (LGBTQ+) and supporting artists.

Ayla Pierrot Arendt (born 1987) is an artist and director who has been living and working in Frankfurt am Main since 2012. She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (2006-11) and completed a master's degree in choreography and performance at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen (2012-16).

Her artistic focus is on combining video art with live music and performance. She has been writing and producing her own pieces in a theatrical context since 2013. Arendt also pursues her interests as a performer in public spaces, in exhibition contexts and via Instagram Live, including as the ‘Voluntary Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany’. Her work is characterised by a dialogue-based approach to developing the content of multi-layered, political and poetic works. She applies intersectional perspectives to literary or mythological figures in order to scrutinise cultural narratives and social structures.

Nicholas Stewens (born 2000 in Frankfurt am Main) began his studies at the Städelschule under the guidance of Judith Hopf and Flaka Haliti. Stewens' artistic work has been presented in various renowned exhibition venues, including Magma Maria, Frankfurter Kunstverein and Opelvillen in Germany, as well as Simulacra in Beijing, China, Weserhallen in Berlin and Das Gericht in Frankfurt.

He often creates collaborative works with his sister Lena Stewens. His artistic practice is characterised by versatility and covers various media and themes. Nicholas Stewens develops painterly works and site-specific sculptural interventions in which he plays with materiality.
 

Antone Liu, born in Anshan (China), lives and works in Frankfurt am Main. His education includes studying fashion design at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology in Beijing, China. He has participated in various exhibitions, including ‘ca bian’ in Offenbach, ‘Temple’ in Offenbach, ‘Symposium’ in Frankfurt am Main and ‘Skin’ at the Duke Kunshan University Humanities Research Centre in Suzhou, China.

In his works, Antone Liu draws on motifs from his origin and skilfully combines them with personal experiences and reflections. In doing so, he builds an exciting connection between past and present, between tradition and innovation. He creates painterly works on silk and sculptural works. His training as a fashion designer enables him to create textile artworks that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also carry a cultural and emotional meaning.

Antone Liu processes autobiographical experiences in his textile works, which nevertheless leave room for individual interpretation. Some of his works show subtly incorporated motifs of tears and eyelashes, which are barely perceptible at first glance, but symbolically point to relationship crises. These elements lend the textile objects a deeper level of meaning. Liu transforms the textile medium into a kind of canvas on which he depicts his personal experiences and emotional landscapes. By combining texture and symbolism, he creates works that are both visually and conceptually complex, allowing viewers to develop their own associations and interpretations.

Dolorosa (born 1988 in Bonn-Bad Godesberg) is a versatile artist and designer from Offenbach am Main. After graduation, they successfully completed the vocational college for graphic design in Mannheim (2005-2008) and their art studies at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) in Offenbach (2008-2017), where they obtained a degree in design.

In addition to their work as a designer, Dolorosa also develops drag performances and drawings. Their drag performances are creative and colourful productions that explore the boundaries of art and performance. They play with identity, gender and social norms and create exciting experiences for their audience. At the same time, they also devote themselves to the art of drawing and have worked on various artistic projects, including exhibitions at the Media Art Biennale in Wroclaw, the Frankfurter Kunstverein and the NKV Wiesbaden, as well as performances at the Mousonturm, Studio Naxos Frankfurt and Festspielhaus Hellerau.