Petrus Wandrey
As the pioneer of Digitalism in art, Petrus Wandrey (1939–2012) forged a visionary world uniting technology, science, and imagination, establishing himself as one of Germany’s most original postwar artists.
Wandrey himself appointed us to manage his estate, the majority of his Oeuvre.
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Petrus Wandrey (born 1939 in Dresden, died 2012 in Hamburg) occupies a singular position within postwar German art. Trained at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, he initially worked as a graphic designer, producing record covers and visual concepts for major labels such as Polydor, Philips, Capitol, Atlantic, and WEA. Among these early works are designs for artists like The Who, where he developed a visual language already marked by fragmentation, tension, and a striking sense of image construction. This formative phase, later examined in detail by the American art critic David Galloway, laid the foundation for his autonomous artistic practice.
By the late 1970s, following his move to New York and his proximity to the intellectual and technological environment around Fordham University, Wandrey began to formulate what he would later define as Digitalism. Works such as Science and Beyond (1978) demonstrate this transition with particular clarity. Here, the human figure dissolves into modular structures, while technological systems become both subject and material. Wandrey did not depict the digital world; he constructed it within the artwork itself. Circuit boards, electronic components, and signal-like structures were integrated into a new visual order governed by reduction, repetition, and precision.
Across painting, relief, sculpture, and object-based work, Wandrey developed a consistent and highly controlled aesthetic system. Central to his oeuvre is the transformation of the human image. In his dancer figures and mask works, the body appears as a coded structure, oscillating between figuration and abstraction. Portraiture becomes a constructed surface shaped by technological logic rather than likeness. At the same time, he reworked cultural icons such as the Mona Lisa within this framework, translating them into a pixel-like language that anticipates the conditions of contemporary image culture.
Wandrey understood art as a field in which technology and human imagination are inseparably linked. His works reveal that behind the apparent coldness of technical systems lie projection, memory, and cultural meaning. From his early graphic designs to the fully developed language of Digitalism, Petrus Wandrey established a body of work that not only anticipated the digital age but also gave it a distinct visual form.
A decisive chapter in Wandrey’s trajectory is linked to his encounter with the Sabatier family. Eduard Sabatier was among the first to recognize the originality of his work and became an early supporter. Torsten Sabatier later developed a close personal relationship with the artist and played an active role in advancing his practice, including the initiation of commissions with companies such as Eventim and Johnson & Johnson.
Through this sustained engagement, Wandrey’s work was not only collected but consistently promoted and contextualized. Today, the Sabatier family oversees the artist’s estate, ensuring that his concept of Digitalism and his early articulation of a technological image language remain present within contemporary discourse.
In the early 1970s, Wandrey turned increasingly toward independent artistic production, initially within a surrealist context. A decisive moment occurred when he presented his sculpture Venus’ Wind to Salvador Dalí, who installed the work in the Mae West Room of the Teatro-Museo Dalí in Figueres. Dalí recognized the originality of Wandrey’s approach, yet urged him to move beyond Surrealism and develop his own visual language. This encounter marked a fundamental shift, redirecting Wandrey away from quotation toward invention and establishing the conceptual basis for his later work.
“Machines will never be able to generate a work of art using software, because an artwork is a result of feelings – something a computer will never accomplish. ⁓ Petrus Wandrey 2002
Works in Collection Placement
PIXELMOUSE (2009)
Acrylic on canvas, 140 × 120 cm, unique piece
Pixel Mouse is merging pop culture with the sharp geometry of digital abstraction.
A pixelated mouse figure dominates the canvas, its black cross-shaped body set against a divided blue-and-white background, disrupted only by a single red square. With its bold yellow eyes and vivid red mouth, the stylized face hovers between playful and unsettling, turning a mass-media symbol into fine art.
LOW LEVEL I & II (2006)
Classic frame elements, lacquered multiplex construction,
104 × 104 × 13 cm each, unique pieces
In Low Level 1 and Low Level 2, Petrus Wandrey fuses fragments of real old classical frames with bold, monochrome surfaces in red and blue.
The stark, pixel-like forms reveal the gilded frame beneath, creating a dialogue between past and present, ornament and reduction. These works exemplify Wandrey’s radical approach to Digitalism: reinterpreting the tradition of fine art through minimalist geometry and industrial clarity.
As a pair, they highlight the tension between historical refinement and contemporary abstraction, transforming the frame itself into the artwork.
COOL-COOL (1997)
Screenprint on handmade paper
77 × 106 cm, 50 limited editions
In Cool-Cool, Petrus Wandrey transforms one of the world’s most recognizable logos into a pixelated emblem of the digital age. The familiar curves of consumer branding are reduced to bold, block-like forms, fusing pop art sensibility with the aesthetics of early computer graphics. By reworking a symbol of mass culture into a coded, abstract language, Wandrey challenges notions of originality, repetition, and desire.
Both playful and critical, this work stands as a key example of his Digitalism.
King Cool, 2007–2008
Gilded circuit boards, anodized heat sinks
on a 2 mm cut-out stainless steel
45.5 × 24.4 × 14.4 cm, edition of 12 + EA
In King Cool and Queen Cool, Petrus Wandrey transforms industrial components into striking anthropomorphic sculptures. Composed of gleaming circuit boards and sharp, anodized heat sinks, the works fuse the language of technology with the timeless archetypes of a royal couple. Their geometric faces, etched in gold lines and microchip details, project both humor and authority, suggesting a digital dynasty ruling over the electronic age. These pieces exemplify Wandrey’s Digitalism, turning the cold rationality of machines into playful yet iconic figures of contemporary culture.
Queen Cool, 2007–2008
Gilded circuit boards, anodized heat sinks
on a 2 mm cut-out stainless steel
44.2 × 18 × 14.4 cm, edition of 12 + EA