Timeline

Wermke/Leinkauf, the celebrated Berlin-based artist duo, work on installations and performances/public space interventions dealing with the hidden possibilities of a city. In their artistic practice, crossing the boundaries of individual freedom serves as an extension of artistic and societal scopes. For White American Flags, on the night of July 21st to July 22nd, 2014, Wermke and Leinkauf scaled each tower of the Brooklyn Bridge and replaced its two American flags with hand-sewn white American flags in commemoration of the 145th anniversary of the bridge’s German-born architect’s death. The NYPD did not notice the swap for ten hours, allowing the artists to photograph the Brooklyn Bridge in the morning light. They were careful to treat both the bridge and its flags with respect, following the US Flag Code. Nonetheless, as a result of Wermke/Leinkauf’s artistic intervention, the duo is now banned from re-entering the United States. White American Flags was preceded by seven years of research and is rooted in the history of uncommissioned public artworks in the city, including now-canonical actions by Gordon Matta-Clark, Philip Petite, Tehching Hseieh, and Trisha Brown. Wermke/Leinkauf's work has exhibited internationally at HAM Helsinki Art Museum Finland, Moderna Museet Stockholm, Kunstraum Niederösterreich Vienna, Akademie der Künste Berlin, Manifesta 11 Zurich Switzerland, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Japan, Museum of Contemporary Art Denmark, KW Institute Berlin, and Eyebeam New York, among many others.