Over painted (No. 8) The Great Wave of Marzahn, Berlin
I feel blessed when I have a chance to work side by side with my friends. With the invitation from Martin Kleinfelder from Roter Baum Berlin I was given an opportunity to work on the front wall of the Youth Center JFE “Anna Landsberger” in Marzahn neighborhood, with my friends,Dejan Mijatović aka Redži and Đurađ Stevanović.
The youth center is near the field where people came every day to fly their kites. In Bosnian language we use the same term for kites and dragons, and the Great Wave, having dragon elements in itself, found its connection.
Related post: Make it possible: Youth Centers & Urban Street Culture, 2013, Berlin, Germany
Technique: acrylic studio paint on reinforced concrete
Size: 285 x 400 cm (112.20 x 157.48 inch)
Year: October 2013
Availability: Public/Street Art
100 Great Waves
Feb 21, 2013
In 2009 we were lucky to have Mr. Adachi from Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints with Mr. Kyoso as a Japanese traditional woodblock print demonstrator to demonstrate and introduce this technique at the Academy of Fine Arts, Sarajevo. After demonstration I had an opportunity to show Mr. Adachi the photos of my works from 100 Views of Ukiyo-e. When he saw The Great Wave off Kanagawa, he asked me, How many copies did you do? I said, I did only one, as I was aiming to give one original painting to multicopy print. He said, No, You should do 100 copies. At first, the idea of doing 100 paintings of the Great Wave sounded impossible and ridiculous, but in time I realized, I don’t have to do it on canvas, I can do it on walls, it´s nothing new and it´s not the first time someone did it, and yet it becomes a public good unlike painting on canvas that is always private. So I´ve decided whenever I have a chance, to do the Great Wave on walls on each city that invites me to do it.
2018 – Update for the concept 100 Great Waves
As of 2018 I am no longer considering this project to be street art or public only, as this limits my experimental aspect of this series. Therefore my future works will include commissioned art works and indoor murals with private, semi-private and public access.