Anton Vertwen is a self-taught artist based in Berlin, with roots in illustration and design. Through simple visuals and texts filled with humor and the absurd, he explores themes of home and war, anxiety, overthinking, and escapism.

When viewing the work of other artists, Vertwen prefers not to impose assumptions or interpretations; this is why his own work usually presents a clear story or idea for people to feel and relate to. The artist aims to make his work accessible and unpretentious, while still keeping it intriguing. He also feels that he has little authority to speak about anything but his own experience, and that’s why his art is expressed through personal stories.

For Vertwen, the idea comes first. A key part of his process is walking around the room and talking to himself: thinking about a theme and how he can relate to it; planning how to present his idea, how it would look and what it would say.

Vertwen finds the instant a clever idea comes to mind deeply satisfying, and his works help him reflect on himself. Meanwhile, the artist hopes to connect to others, give a memorable experience, evoke emotions or even summon inspiration with his art. At GlogauAIR, Vertwen’s main project is a hand-made encyclopedia of personal artifacts, full of memories and emotions, through which he strives to build a foundation for what could be a lifelong art project.