Today, I am extremely proud and happy to share with you all, that someone fell in love with my twopiece 'Looking Out For Nr One #1 & #2'. In fact, she fell in love so much with this twopiece, that she just had to buy it!
For those who do not know the origins of this particuliar two-piece: it was created especially for the ''Art Olympiad'', organised by the Rotterdam Centre for the Arts during the summer of 2012, the time of the Olympics in London. The theme of this art contest was 'victory'. As Witty Art is all about 'the other side of the medal', this time, almost literally, I looked at the downside of winning. More than often, the glorious victory comes at a very high price.
So, I came up with ''Looking Out For Nr One'', a two-piece consisting of two drawings created with ink and watercolour: ''#1 Weigh Me Down'' and ''#2 Hung Up On You''. Both drawings show, in typical Witty Art style, how the most wanted glittering prize can become an unbearable burden.
When creating these two drawings, I was directly inspired by the story of Matti Nykänen, perhaps the greatest ski jumping champion of all time, the boy who people believed could fly through the sky, collecting European, World- and Olympic gold medals by the dozens. His story is that of an athlete unable to cope with success, of a sporting legend who, after his sporting days had ended, only made the headlines because of his alcohol abuse, four consecutive divorces, money troubles and even a new career as a stripper.
Apparently, I managed to get the meaning across just right, as ''Looking Out For Nr One #1: Weigh Me Down'' was elected the winner of the Art Olympiad. Now, this is something I am really proud of, especially since one of the jury members was Dutch athlete, Nelli Cooman, former European and World Champion 60 meter indoor during the second part of the '80's and the first part of the '90's. For someone like her, an acclaimed former top athlete, to see and recognize the meaning of this particular work, means a lot to me.
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