Upclose with Stefan Strumbel
A rising star in the European art scene, German artist Stefan Strumbel talks to Penny Zhou about his street art background and the essence of “Heimat,” whatever that means.
HK Magazine: We hear you have a background in street art. What’s up with that?
Stefan Strumbel: My uncle was a quite successful artist. I used to paint with him every day. I started doing graffiti when I was 12, and I got myself into a lot of trouble with the police. So after that I tried to paint legally. Now my works are being shown in galleries, which is nice because now I have the money to be able to paint in a studio of my own.
HK: Do you miss the days of painting on street walls?
SS: Of course! The best gallery is always the streets. When you paint on walls, everyone can see it, no matter if they’re poor or rich. You can help those who don’t go to galleries and museums to see your paintings and enjoy your art. Trains would also be very cool to paint on—It’d be like having a traveling exhibition!
HK: In you opinion, where in the world has the best street art?
SS: Right now I think it’s Brazil, partly because it’s really outlandish. There are brilliant street art pieces in the States but they are just too mainstream.
HK: What do you think of Hong Kong?
SS: It’s my first time in Hong Kong and this city has already given me a lot of inspiration. I grew up in the countryside in southwestern Germany, and as you can imagine it’s very different from here or any other big city. I love going to metropolises, but then I take my impressions of the urban streets back to my studio in the serene rural areas and paint them.
HK: Tell us something about your “Heimat” series.
SS: I basically painted pictures of things you’ll find in the woods, alongside other symbolic objects. There’s one that combines a clock with the Rolling Stones logo, which is expressing the idea that “life is short, so rock it.” There’s another one with a rabbit and a syringe, and that’s saying “home is drugs in your veins.” I had a show in New York and everybody was like, “What the fuck is Heimat?” And so that question became the slogan of my Heimat exhibitions.
HK: So... What the fuck is Heimat?
SS: It’s a German word. There isn’t an exact equivalent in English, but it basically means “homeland” and the things that make you feel like home. It’s a feeling of vague nostalgia that can be different for everybody. For me, I draw my inspiration from my roots, which is the Black Forest where I was born and raised, as you can see from the subjects in my paintings. But it transcends the limits of space, and ultimately, can be any place that reminds me of home.