UNUM: Simplicity. Complexity. Emergence.

Event Description

UNUM is Stefan Lehmann’s second solo show at Gage Gallery.  Ideas about simplicity, complexity, and emergence have been Stefan's playground for the last year and a half.  Through them, he has been asking himself questions about his own practice, visual identity, and philosophy of art-making.  

This show represents a signpost in these explorations rather than a destination.  A starting point for conversations about the relationship between the mark and the picture, the individual and the group, of what is gained (and lost) by the simple when it is made complex. 

Visit Gage Gallery and join the conversation.

Opening Reception: Thursday October 9, 2025: 5-8pm

Gallery admission and Gallery events are free unless otherwise noted.

Two talks:

1. "PRINTING UNUM"
Artist talk and printmaking demo with Stefan Lehmann
Saturday, October 11, 2025. 2 - 3pm.
2. “UNUM”
Artist talk with Stefan Lehmann
Saturday, October 25, 2025. 2-3pm
UNUM, in a nutshell, has been my playground for the last 18 months.  I’ve been exploring ideas like simplicity, complexity, and emergence as the title suggests.  

“What does that actually MEAN, Stefan?”, I hear you asking.

Art-making is a framework through which I understand life (…the universe, everything).  

I use my practice as a way to understand the sometimes crazy, often beautiful, sometimes ugly, place we live and have to share with one another.   Over the last 18 months, I’ve been asking myself things like: 

* “How simple can I make my graphic elements and compositions?“
* “What happens when I take those simple elements and ‘complexify’ them’?“
* “What does complexity even mean?“
* “Is there such a thing as ‘emergence’, or is that just a buzzword for the magic we feel when we experience unintended or unanticipated outcomes?”

Heady stuff for sure, but I hope you’ll come down and take a look at the work and start a conversation about it. 

GAGE GALLERY ARTS COLLECTIVE
19 Bastion Square, Victoria, BC
gagegallery.ca/events