16 October 2008
Around the millennium, I had access to an office in Amsterdam, which I used as an art studio. Near the studio was a bar. I tried to visit the bar as less as possible. About once a week, mostly on Friday when everybody celebrated the start of the weekend. This local bar was run by a couple and their adult son.
One afternoon I went to the son’s apartment. He would give me 250 euro in advance of the job … Because I had designed a mural for him.
Earlier that day I had unrolled my drawing on the counter of the bar to show him my idea. All the customers were watching and meddling in. After a few minutes discussing and approvingly murmeling, the son, the customers and I unitedly toasted on the acquired agreement.
The apartment of the son was a typical men’s house. There were only the much-needed pieces of furniture of the type chrome, glass and leather-look, along with a few wilting houseplants on floor of white high gloss tiles. This kind of cold and unattractive atmosphere apparently was aware by the son too, because the idea was that my mural would change that. If he could have lured a girl into his house in the near future, at least he had to offer a piece of conversation.
I worked on the mural for 1 week. If he left his appartment in the morning to work in the bar, I came in a little later with his house key and stayed untill the end of the afternoon.
For a first time I was quite satisfied about the result. A true flag on a mud barge (Dutch saying). These days probably would do it in a different style, but hey … it was 16 years ago. And the son was happy.
Soon after this first mural commission, my auntie asked me to create a mural in her kitchen. It was a small one, but it counts as an art-project anyway.
