Andreas Von Chrzanowski aka Case Maclaim was born in 1979 and grew up in East Germany, now based in Frankfurt.Case Maclaim is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading photo-realistic aerosol authors.
Each of his works is a unique piece of art and can be discovered throughout the world.
Painting both murals and on canvas, Case holds one of the most extraordinary techniques known within urban art. He has a highly developed talent to create pieces that combine photorealism with a strong note of surrealism. He primarily uses spray paint as this street art technique enables him to get the most out of his visuals and achieve the level of perfection his incredibly life-like graffiti possess.
One of Maclaims most common pictorial motifs are the overlaying hands that symbolize unity and power. It should also be noted that he is a founding member of the renown East- Germany Maclaim Crew, a group that has been the urban expression's photorealism pioneer for over two decades now.
Although Maclaim worked on his style from the year of 1995 when he started toying around with spray cans, the story of his role in street art truly begins in 1999. Back then, Akut (the male half of the Herakut duo) teamed up with CASE and Rusk and the trio started collaborating on mutual projects. Two years later, Tasso joined the group and the new street art collaboration came to be known as the Maclaim Crew. This group of young and talented artists went on to build a name for themselves by designing and bringing to life some of the best photorealistic graffiti the world had ever seen. Even back then, as the Maclaim Crew was painting photorealistic images of body shapes and portraits, CASE managed to stand out with his personal and surrealistic approach to creating art.
Maclaim focuses on the body, which he abstracts from its human origin to make way for narrative, monstrous, animalistic, or mythical elements. The usual ideal of beauty is replaced by bizarre, controversial characteristics, which are vexing but simultaneously fascinating.
Also the world of emotions is perpetually traced: uncertainty, melancholy, and the constant fight of being a human are broached as the issue. The figurative subjects impress with their perfect execution and their excellent mixture of pictorial pureness and high narrative value.
EDUCATION
Diploma in Art Restoration and Conservation at the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024
Urban Fractions, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
2023
10-year anniversary | Out in the Open, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
2022
SOLO, Be a Mensch, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
URBAN CURRENTS, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
2021
Upside Down, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark