Wolfgang Günther

“Ted Lasso’s Sign”, acrylic on canvas, 30” x 20”.

In the TV sitcom ‘Ted Lasso’, a sign is hung up in the locker room. It says BELIEVE. Here, the letters are shown as blue bars, whose lengths correspond to how frequently each letter appear in the English language: ‘B’ appears 1.49%, ‘E’ 12.02%, ‘L’ 3.98%, ‘I’ 7.31%, and ‘V’ 1.11%.

“Believe” is an expression that AFC Richmond (a fictional soccer team) use to pull themselves up from their middling position in England’s Premier League and apply to their off-pitch lives. It's also their motivational poster sign for their own everyday lives created by Ted Lasso, an American football coach who was hired to coach a professional soccer team in England. As expected, it’s not going too well at first.

The sitcom initially comes across and is advertised as a comedy but some episodes and scenes make viewers think - sometimes with tears in their eyes.

Acrylic on MDF and plywood. Diameter approximately 48”.

Synesthesia Art. Letters are represented by colored segments; their sizes correlate with how frequently the letters appear in the English language. To be read from the top, ‘12 o’clock’, clockwise. White segments represent gap between words.

Sometimes, one forgets to drop one’s shoulders, to relax, to close one’s eyes and to take a breath. This piece is supposed to be a subtle reminder to decompress.

Acrylic on MDF and plywood, 86.25” x 9.5”

Synesthesia Art. Letters are color coded and read from top to bottom. Segments are sized according to how frequently letters appear in the English Language.

acrylic on canvas, 48” x 48”, 2022, Synesthesia Art

The letters L, O, V, and E are shown as colored square frames. Their different volumes represent how often these letters appear in the English language: the more frequent a letter apears, the more volumenous the frame.

To be read from the center of the square (Purple = L, Red = O, Light Blue = V, Orange = E).

Acrylic on MDF and plywood, outer diameter 28.5" (725mm), inner diameter 18" (460mm), Synesthesia Art, 2024

Letter are represented by color segments, their size relating to how frequently each letter appears in the English language. To be 'read' clockwise from the top (12 o'clock)

RBG (as in “Ruth Bader Ginsburg”, the late US Supreme Court judge), 48” x 48”, acrylic on canvas, 2022, Synesthesia Art

The initials R, B and G are color-coded and arranged as centered square frames. Each frame’s thickness represents the letter’s frequency in the English language: ‘R’ is represented by green, ‘B’ as red, and ‘G’ as white.

36” x 24”, acrylic on canvas, 2022, Synesthesia Art

Inspired by the iconic poster by the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union in 1968, the letters spelling out "I am a man" are color-coded: the top left yellow rectangle stands for “I”. The top right rectange and bottom left rectange stand for “M”. The tall rectangle in the middle represents the three “A’s”. The bottom right rectangle repesents “N”.

FUCK - 48” x 48”, acrylic on canvas, 2021, Synesthesia Art

The letters F, U, C, and K are color-coded and are shown as square frames. Each frame’s thickness represents its letter’s frequency in the English language: the letter ‘F’ is shown as grey, ‘U’ and ‘C’ are in shades of green, and ‘K’ is represented as yellow.

Acrylic on canvas, 48” x 48”, 2017, Synesthesia Art

The letters are displayed as color bars. Their lengths are correlated to each letter’s frequency in the English language. To be read from bottom left of the painting counterclockwise:

“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprive itself of the contributions of half of its citizens” Michelle Obama

This painting was my first synesthesia artwork. It was a donation 'The Connection' (a local organization) as part of a fundraiser which was held at a local country club. After the event, I contacted the organizer and asked how it was received by the attendees. She said "the liked it until they read who said the quote." Nevertheless, it was snapped up.

acrylic on canvas, 30” x 48”, 2017, Synesthesia Art

Letters are represented by color bars. Their thickness correlates to how frequently they appear in the English language. From left to right it reads “Peace”.

Acrylic on canvas, 40” x 40”, 2024, Synesthesia Art

Letters are shown as colored bars. Their different lengths correspond to how frequently they appear in the English language. The top part of the square reads from left to right: “Be Kind”, the bottom part: “Or Leave”.

acrylic on plywood, 33 3/4 inches/side, 2017

This work was inspired by "Alternative facts" which was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the attendance numbers of Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States. When pressed during the interview with Chuck Todd to explain why Spicer would "utter a provable falsehood", Conway stated that Spicer was giving "alternative facts". Todd responded, "Look, alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods."

Under Kellyanne's definition, this work is made up of squares...

acrylic on canvas, 34" x 34", 2023

Inspired by a piece of art in the background of a scene on "Friends", the sitcom.

Inspired by the golden frame around the peephole in the apartment door in the TV sitcome "Friends", a thermostat in Wolfgang's house was deemed fit to be framed...

Veneered plywood, approximately 8' x 6' each.

Wolfgang's wife wanted unique bookshelves on the left and right side of the door leading to the home office. This is what came of it.

The second photograph shows a 1:1 sketch and the third shows one of the bookshelves standing in the driveway. Wolfgang wanted to make sure that the bookshelves are built in a way that they would support the weight of books and be free-standing.

acrylic on canvas, 35 cm x 100 cm (14" x 39 1/2"), 2011, drip art

Inspired by Jackson Pollock's drip art

acrylic on canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm (39 1/2" x 39 1/2"), 2011

Inspired by Jackson Pollock's drip art.

acrylic on canvas, 30" x 48", 2017

This painting was inspired by Jackson Pollock's Free Form which he painted in 1948. (Displayed in the photograph with the lights on its left) Free Form is very likely Pollock's first "drip" painting. He began by painting the entire canvas red and then added the black and white tangles and pools of paint by flinging and dripping diluted oil paint from a brush or stick. The painting is 19 1/4 x 14" (48.9 x 35.5 cm) in size.

In the movie "The Accoutant" (2016, with Ben Affleck), the painting has a considerable role: the protagonist, the accountant, considers it the most precious thing he owns, and he doesn’t want to sell it. He ends up parting with it anyway. Why and how? You should watch the movie!

acrylic on MDF, 30 cm x 120 cm (12" x 48"), 2009

This painting was made to spruce up an empty wall in Wolfgang's kitchen. It is also used as artwork on Wolfgang's business card.

acrylic on canvas, 40" x 40" (102cm x 102cm)

A different approach to "drip art".

acrylic on canvas, 48" x 36" (122 cm x 91.5 cm), 2016

This is Wolfgang's first and, so far, only 'spatula' artwork.

acrylic on canvas, 40" x 40" (102 cm x 102 cm), 2016

Book with a hook, 2014

One can actually hang something on it