I Bought Art for the First Time

I love stree art! It is rough, nonconformist, often spontaneous, and for me the quintessential way of expressing yourself in an urban context—that makes it beautiful for me. Naturally, I had to visit the exhibition/art trade event Straßengold (street gold) at Kulturbunker Mülheim.

I am happy to have asked a good friend to accompany me. I will do that more often! Sometimes I feel my hobbies and interests are too niche or… geeky?! And I abandon the idea to bring friends with me. I have come to realize that that’s a stupid thought and that I really like to share days like that with friends. The sum of my hobbies and interests make up a big portion of who I am, so what am I afraid of?

Back to the exhibition! It was an overwhelming explosion of color, clever ideas, political messages, and provocative material. I really enjoyed taking my time with every piece, giving myself room to take it in, think about it, and appreciate it. And then I passed by this art work.

Something immediately resonated with me. It rarely happens that I have such an immediate reaction to an art piece, complete with an interpretation building up in my head. So what I see is an individual that is drained of all life energy, because consumption has overtaken their mind and thereby any incentive to do anything. The whole topic of leading a creative and creating life vs. consuming and mentally starving while contemplating what you might be capable of doing if you only started is huge for me. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t walk away from this.

Two beers (Yup, they sold beers at the gallery!) and a walk to the nearest ATM later, I bought it. 180 €. The gallerist was super nice, asked me if I’m sure and whether this is the first time I bought art, gave me tips how to hang this up, and congratulated me.

I did not find any online presence of the artist, so dear Chris411, you created something beautiful that I will cherish. Thank you!