Karim was there

Oh, I completely forgot to tell you how was it at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milano. Yes, I was there, I was there (it was in... April). Apart from thousands of kilograms of press papers and free drinks (my lovely Bombay Sapphire... :) I have just one beautiful memory... it is Karim, Karim Rashid. He is an export star-designer of Bombay Sapphire. And he is everywhere. One cannot miss him (the pink, look for the pink!). So I have decided that I cannot miss him here as well. There we go, ladies and gentleman - Karim is here for you!

London Fever

What you see there on top of my head is my newest treasure - I was looking for such a hat for a year now. I found it in London! It doesn't mean I will not wear my diadem, oh, no, but for a change now, I have the hat! and you will see - in one year they will all wear them! (Jacek hates it).

As I am writing about my trips and I don't do it chronologically - I will now tell you about our trip to London (3 weekends ago). We went there all three of us - the Curators in full cast: Jacek, Patrick and me. Shame it wasn't a tour... but anyway. We did the tourist thing. We even went to my school - good old Architectural Association! Patrick was visiting some record shops and studios and I (with Jacek) did my architecture tour - visiting some architecture exhibitions.

Psycho Buildings at Hayward... well well!

As every band - we went also to Abbey Road, however we didn't manage to have us all on the photo...

Ah, and good news - we opened a Kebab place in London. Coming from Berlin, one has to have a bit of "home" in the UK...

As we arrived to London, it was just a very fresh act - now it is forbidden to drink alcohol on the tube. So that is why all the British come to Berlin and do the stupid "alco-tourist" trips in the UBahn... now we know! How I hate all those drunken tourists in Berlin! I don't care if what I say is politically incorrect. Drunken tourists are wrecking Berlin. Few years ago, due to the lovely Ryanair, ther was the same in Cracow (Poland) - I don't know if this is still happening there. But that is also the reason why I don't go so often to Mitte... and Warschauer Brucke in the evenings is pure hell! Sh.t! They are coming closer and closer every weekend... they are even reaching further now in Friedrichshain... Way beyond Simon-Dach Strasse, oh!

Leggings live

As I was traveling recently (NYC, London, Helsinki) I observed this trend... leggings. Ok, they are back since 2005 but as I don't ramble around cool and fashion-able areas of Berlin (Mitte or PBerg) I missed that and just discovered recently that leggings are really back. The good thing is is that when you wear a dress and leggings the problem zone called "the BELLY" (or life belt) may be safely covered. Looking skinny in such an outfit applies only to those with thin limbs which are sticking out from the dress. Otherwise this can be dangerous... Camouflage may be a trap! And yet, in leggings one doesn't really have to shave legs, right (German) girls?

One of my favorite magazines is "The National Enquirer" a trash paper from the US, but I am not ashamed of that. I love the celebrity photos, blow ups of cellulite and blah blah stories. There is also one of my favorite sections where the editors are judging stars in their glamorous appearances. In every issue there is also a "Freak of the Week". I have made you a national-enquirer-like showcase of BOHO-chics myself, enjoy! Leggings live!

Sailing in/to Helsinki

And yes, so we've been to Helsinki - was great. Ok, only 3 days but it was still worth it. We managed to take all paintings with us on Easyjet. We flew to Tallinn and the we took a boat to Helsinki. And that was fun! Has any of you ever tries to do on one of these boats? It is an adventure. It doesn't matter that it is noon - all the Finnish people (young and old!) are buying massive amounts of alcohol in Tallinn or right there on the boat. Alcohol in Estonia is much much cheaper. And then you have all these people singing karaoke, being drunk on the deck, carrying boxes of rum, gin and whatever vodka. I don't want to hear anymore that it is the Polish who drink the most in Europe! Ok?



In Helsinki my gallerists (From Myymala2) took us on their boat - old wooden fisher boat. Maybe they render such a pleasure to every artists they exhibit but again, it was great. Jani even let me drive the boat (or steer?). Well, it was easy - no trees to hit (remember - I don't have a driving license, I don't even know how to drive a car).

"Our" boat is the small one, of course...
And I guess we were lucky - apparently it was the warmest day of the summer in Helsinki. Having a beer on the boat, picnic on the shore of an island... a Nordic paradise. Apparently in Finland it is allowed to drink and steer - with maximum 1,5 promile of alcohol...

Monkeys and Saints

On Saturday July 5th I have an exhibition opening in a very cool gallery in Helsinki - Myymälä2 Gallery - www.myymala2.com For the exhibition "Monkeys and Saints" I have made some new paintings and I am also showing a new project called "Mao was There"... ok, I have to go now to finish packing... I will write as I get back to Berlin...


"Mao was (There) Pope" from "Mao was There" series


"Mao was (There) Elvis" from "Mao was There" series


"Mao was (There) Adolf" from "Mao was There" series

A bit of theory behind "Mao was There" project:

The marketing of contemporary Chinese culture is a relatively new thing. In the amazing growth of China’s economy and wild urbanisation process of the former rather agrarian communist country, art, as any other luxury, becomes more importance. Art market is increasing; prices for art works are similarly high as in Western countries. It is not only the Chinese market of cheap goods, copied design products or antique Ming vases – China has now a global power – both in financial and cultural terms. How could it happen?

I come from a country which used to have a communist government, similar, although less extreme, as in China. Analysing the situation in China and in the western countries I have come to conclusion that basically the Japanese tourists, as we know them, were in reality Chinese tourists disguised as Japanese. All these Japanese tourists with their cameras, taking photos of literally everything, were the Chinese. The Japanese did not need to document everything and research on what is happening in the West – they have their own style in art, design and architecture. It is in China, where in miserably lit basements hundreds of poor people are copying artworks of famous world masters, it is in China where copies of design products are almost as good as originals, and where local architects copy/paste buildings, houses and whole villages from western countries. Come to think of it… maybe it was the Chinese all the time? Chinese in disguise?