A lot happened in 2021, but the most important event for me personally was the art fair STROKE in Munich including its unexpected outcome. If you have 3 min, here you can read my report:
After two postponements due to corona, the time had finally come in October last year and the STROKE art fair in Munich opened its doors for four days.
For me it was a premiere in a double sense, because first of all I have never exhibited at an art fair before and secondly I had two artworks in the bag ("Wolf #5 - Ice" and "Deep #1"), which should celebrate their own premiere at the fair. What I didn't expect was that I wouldn't take them back to Berlin with me, but more about that later.
There was one thing I was particularly pleased about on the first day (Thursday): the warm and collegial atmosphere among the artists. Not a trace of competition or envy, but a really friendly interaction right from the start.
The weekend itself was much talking, explaining and booth set up and disassembly and I was glad that I had company and help from my brother and my girlfriend.
My goal for this weekend was to get feedback from a wider audience and of course to see the reaction to the new motive of the apnoea diver. So it was a highlight for me that two visitors told me that "Deep #1" is their personal favorite picture of the fair. In general, the Munich audience was very welcoming. One visitor even made me promise to bring "something about mountains" next year, since we are here in Munich. Fair enough.
On Sunday afternoon, things suddenly got moving: A very nice visitor bought after 5 minutes of conversation without further ado the artwork "Deep #1" and took it directly with him. It will decorate a large wall in his Tyrolean vacation home. Less than half an hour later I received a call from a visitor who had been at the fair the day before and asked me if the artwork "Wolf #5 - Ice" was still available and if I could bring it to his house in Munich the same evening after the fair.
This way, both new works have found a new owner on their premiere weekend.
I had to ask my neighbor for this small red stickers for the price tags, which symbolize that the artwork is sold. According to my humble expectations for the fair, I had forgotten mine at home.
With a satisfied smile and the two tags as souvenirs in my pocket, I left Munich and decided to come back while I was still on the road back home to Berlin.