The famous Berlin Graphic Days 2019 took place in Kreuzberg, Berlin last week. More than 80 national and international artists, designers, illustrators, silkscreens, painters, graffiti artists showcased their work at the festival. Berlin Graphic Days is a hotchpotch of exhibition, festival, market and sale that supports artists from all over the world promoting modern art.
Many different pieces including screen printing posters, colorful and meaningful t-shirts, unique pieces, books, pictures as well as numerous graphic original works attracted a large audience. The event also had live music to give art students a local experience of Berlin’s art culture. Berlin Graphic Days (BGD) started two years ago with an aim of capturing the art culture of Berlin. Christoph Steinweg, the curator and owner of Berlin Graphic Days, talked to Academia Magazine. “At BGD, we have a mix of students as well as established artists who have dedicated their lives to art, here they can get the exposure of presenting their work to art lovers.” Steinweg also shared his views on owning art pieces.
He said, “Berlin is distinctively based around Fine Arts and art lovers see a lot of speculation associated with it since they cannot own the expensive art pieces. Modern Art challenges this speculation since it is more consumer oriented, people can afford an original art piece for €50 to €80”.
Berlin Graphic Days 2019 was divided into two parts. The first part of the exhibition focused on installations and architecture created by Berlin’s artist community called Krank and Natulis. Both communities work with modern art institutes. Installations used empty halls to express social and political history of Berlin. The second part focused on modern art and expression under many different mediums such as paintings, photography, sketches, graphic designs and more.
Patrick Schmidt, an artist from Germany, showcased his work that painted music and its effects on 40x 40cm frames, which is the size of old records. Schmidt said he mostly painted electronic music “since I am a DJ. My album covers are based on my personal stories and my personal music collection. My work is a tribute to my childhood memories”. Schmidt shares his art work with musicians and many have acknowledged his painting skills. He said sometimes “my favorite artists respond to my art work and I get their appreciative reactions”.
Eliza Osmo from Belarus also presented her work on medieval art that goes beyond European and Asian history at the Berlin Graphic Days 2019. Osmo’s work captured her interpretation of mythology inspired by Christianity. She said she was obsessed with mythology and “Berlin’s diverse art culture welcomes my work. Although it is seen as not so much of a religious society, it shows tolerance of people here, as they welcome diversity of thoughts”.
The exhibition had a wide range of collection of different techniques. Simon Lejeuene from Belgium was one of many artists who chose to use old water color technique to hand paint sci-fi, surreal art, illustrations and comics inspired by artists from 1970s and 1980s. BGD is organized twice a year in Berlin and it has been organized out of Germany as well. The exhibition goes on for three days.
